Blue Eyes and Butterflies
by Novus Ars
Summary: Naruto is dragged away from everything he knows by the Kyuubi to a new world frightfully similar to his own but major things have changed and, worse, he is forgetting everything he had once known, some of which could be helpful in this new world. femNaru - This will not be finished. I was asked to put this back up as is.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Yin and Yang

Blue eyes opened in shock, glancing around the encompassing blackness. There was a faint burning in his gut but nothing else. Naruto had always thought that the extraction process of the Kyuubi would have hurt more. But then again, was he dead? Or was the process still going on?

Blue eyes squinted into the surrounding darkness. He couldn't see anything. Was this what death was supposed to be like? The young man pushed himself up onto trembling legs and began to wander. If this was the afterlife it was a hell of a lot more boring than he had envisioned. Where were the giant bowls of ramen? Where were the dancing ramen drenched girls? Where was Ero-Sennin?

Naruto stumbled slightly when something embarrassingly light whacked against his head. Turning his eyes to the flutter of movement at the edge of his vision revealed a faintly glowing butterfly fluttering past him. Another followed, and a moment later another. Naruto blushed, he had stumbled from a butterfly of all things running into him. Maybe it was a good thing Ero-Sennin wasn't here yet.

Watching the butterflies for a few minutes, Naruto blinked and glanced around again. Frowning, the blond scratched his head at the pattern he had finally noticed. The butterflies were all heading in the same direction as him. Oh well, at least he knew he was going somewhere, right? Naruto grinned his stupid grin and shouted out into the darkness, "TO SASUKE-TEME AND THE AKATSUKI!"

With that Naruto exploded into action, running in his almost animalistic manner past the butterflies. He was going to get out of here and defeat the bastards of Akatsuki, save Sasuke, and become the Shichidaime. That was after Obaa-chan woke up and gained back her place as Hokage from Danzo of course.

After some unknown length of time running, Naruto staggered to a stop and had to double over because of the sudden ripping feeling that the faint burning became in his gut. Something was being pulled out of him. Naruto groaned in agony as he struggled to stand back up. He wasn't going to let this stop him from saving Sasuke, from gaining his dream of Hokage!

Naruto looked up in pain and gapped in shock at the light that was surrounding him now. The light flickered around him, fluttering lazily forward, toward a distant warmth. Naruto staggered toward it as the warmth cooled the agony rippling over his body from his gut, from the seal. "No." Breathed the blond man as it finally came to him. He wasn't dead, not yet. Naruto dropped to his knees and sunk into himself, like when he collected sage chakra. After a few moments Naruto breathed out as he felt the draining of the Kyuubi out of him. He couldn't let that happen!

Blue eyes flickered opened and found a glowing butterfly resting on his nose. The source of all the light were butterflies. Naruto smiled softly as he looked over the hundreds of butterflies lazily fluttering around him. It was so peaceful, so warm. Naruto sighed, he could just lay down and sleep right here. Falling backwards Naruto smiled as the blackness underneath him cushioned his body.

Wait! Naruto forced his eyes open. He couldn't let them win. The blond teen closed his eyes and mentally reached out to the demonic chakra. With one last second hesitation, it was so peaceful here after all, Naruto grabbed on to it.

"I WILL NOT DIE!"

Naruto gasped as the Kyuubi's words boomed through his head and than suddenly Naruto felt himself being dragged. Blue orbs snapped open, revealing a chain that was connecting Naruto to the chakra manifestation of the Kyuubi. The fox was dragging them away from the butterflies, away from the way Naruto had come. They were going in a direction that held nothingness in Naruto's eyes. "NO! WE CAN'T GO THAT WAY!"

"FOOLISH CHILD." Sneered the Kyuubi but it continued to drag them from the warmth.

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" Cried Naruto as he staggered up and pulled back on the chain protruding from his stomach. The struggle of strength and wills continued for sometime with the Kyuubi pulling the unwilling blond farther into the darkness. "Where are we going?" Asked Naruto as he yanked on the chain futilely.

"Elsewhere." Naruto glared at the fox when it didn't elaborated past that. He couldn't let this continue. He HAD to get back! There was too much for him to do. So many promises he had to keep!

Naruto finally stopped struggling and reluctantly followed the demon farther and farther into the blackness. He didn't have the strength to stop the fox. Naruto hated that fact. He couldn't go back because he was trapped with the thrice damned nine-tails fleeing away from everyone, fleeing to some place the Akatsuki couldn't get to. Naruto could tell that much since the agony of having the fox being ripped out of him had faded to nothing since they had begun this track through the blackness.

The blond boy angrily wiped away his tears as he realized that he couldn't fulfill all his promises. What was the point of promising things if you couldn't achieve them? If he ever got out of here he wasn't ever going to promise another thing, not until he full filled the promises he had already made. Empty promises are just un-fulfilling lies.

Stop it Naruto! You can get back! When have you ever given up? Naruto straightened his back and glared at the red fox ahead of him. He never gave up. Wouldn't give up now!

"Almost there." Breathed the Kyuubi.

Naruto glared, "Where?"

The fox glanced distantly back at the human he had been forced to drag along. "To the other world. Or perhaps it is simply the past of the one we had just left. It matters not to me. I will live."

Naruto frowned at that. What the hell was the fox talking about now? The blond shook his head. No matter, He was going to stop this. He was going to run back to the others and save them! Now he just had to figure out the way to cut the chain connecting them. Blue eyes blinked as a butterfly fluttered past.

"Ah, we have found the pathway." Naruto hesitantly looked up to find they were on another path lit by butterflies. It was nearly identical to the one they had fled but here the butterflies were multiple colors of reds, oranges, and golds where the one earlier was covered by butterflies glowing different shades of blue. It was amazing. Naruto smiled as he felt the warmth from before fall over them. A tug of the the chain reminded him of what he needed to do.

How was he supposed to break the chain? Naruto slid his hands over it down to the point it connected to his gut, exactly where the center of the seal would be. Blue eye widened. That was it! He just had to rip the seal off the cage! But that would free the Kyuubi! Naruto frowned at that. He would have to take the chance. "We're too close." Muttered the Kyuubi.

Naruto closed his eyes as he stood by the contemplating fox. A minute later Naruto opened his eyes to find the seal and cage before him. Naruto walked up and took the edge of the seal into his hands. "Sorry Chichi." With that Naruto ripped the seal off.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Naruto opened his eyes as a dull ache filled his entire being. Staring at him with wild eyes was the Kyuubi. "NO! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT! NOT NOW!"

The blond man gapped at the panicked Kyuubi as the fox back away from him before turning and running towards the darkness of the new path they were on. The aching grew as the Kyuubi vanished, centered around his abdomen. Naruto looked down onto himself and stared in horror at the hole in his gut. What had he done?

Naruto looked up as warmth swept over him and stared at the strange strands of light uncoiling around him. The elegant action vanished as the light coils suddenly exploded out after the Kyuubi. Naruto twirled around to watch as the light pulled the Kyuubi back. What was going on?

Naruto stepped forward. The butterflies responded to his movement by swarming the blond, pushing Naruto into one of the coils of light. Naruto gasped at the contact before words spoke in his head. "Thank Thee for bringing he who has avoided we. A gift we give. A life you gain that gives life as life is the gift of all mortal kind." Naruto began to frown before he exploded into a million golden and blue butterflies.

AUAU

Naruto jerked up with a gasp. That had been a strange dream. The blond blinked around himself in confusion and growing horror. He wasn't anywhere that was familiar. It was a dark alleyway that was covered in blood and dead men. What- Naruto balked as he struggled up onto his feet to find that the ground didn't move as far away as it should. Looking down at his blood covered body revealed that he was tiny. Smaller than he had ever remembered being. What was going on?

"NARUTO!"

Blue eyes shot up to find a old man, that was long since dead, running down the alley with ANBU following. "Ojii?" Gasped Naruto. The Sandaime glanced at Naruto before kneeling besides a small body. A body with golden hair covered in blood.

"We were too late." Choked the Sandaime as Naruto hesitantly stepped forward. One of the ANBU picked Naruto up, revealing how small he was. Naruto leaned forward, after glaring at the ANBU who dared pick him up like he was some child, and saw that the body the Sandaime was holding was a miniature version of himself.

"Nani." Breathed Naruto in shock. He was alive. He was right here!

"Hokage-sama." The ANBU holding Naruto spoke up.

"Find out who the bodies are and return them to their families." The Sandaime stood, cradling the dead body that couldn't possibly exist.

"Ojii." Whispered Naruto in a mixture of confusion, hope, and fear.

The Hokage looked down at him. "Have the little girl looked over at the hospital and than have T&amp;I send one of its subordinates over that can talk to a child without scaring them. She might know what happened here."

"Hai."

Naruto gapped at the Hokage and then the blurring world as the ANBU jumped up on the roof and ran off towards the hospital. He was most definitely not a girl. Girls had cooties! Blue eyes blinked, where had that thought come from?

The now tiny blond buried his head into the ANBU's chest as bright, fake light hit his sensitive eyes. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening! Damn that fox! It was all his fault. Naruto just knew it was. When he had a chance he was going to go and find out what that demon had done this time!

The Jinchuuriki ignored the nurses and doctors that looked over him. It was a simple physical, though his blood was drawn at some point. Naruto didn't really notice, everything was a blur and he couldn't focus very well nor did he care. He needed to figure out what was going on.

"Little one, I need to ask you some questions. Is that alright sweetie?" Smiled a nurse as she tilted Naruto's head up to face her. Naruto blinked with a frown. "See sweetie, the questions will help us keep you awake since you have a concussion. They'll help us with figuring out how bad you were hit too."

Naruto frowned and glanced over at the ANBU who had brought him here. "Alright." He'd have to answer them sooner or later after all, right?

"Thats great sweetie. Now whats your name?" Smiled the kindly nurse. Nurses had never been kind to Naruto before Baa-chan had come. It was strange.

"Naruto." Naruto answered honestly before pausing as he realized something important, his voice was that of a child. Crap, what the hell had the Kyuubi done? Was he really a little kid again? Was the Sandaime really alive? No this had to be a genjutsu! Naruto looked back up at the nurse, now determined to answer everything quickly. The sooner he got this over with the sooner he could find out if he was really in the past or if it was a genjutsu of some type. Blue eyes watched as the woman's smile vanished from her face.

"Your last name sweetie?"

"Uzumaki." Naruto blinked as the woman immediately left the room. Looking over at the monkey ANBU, as he had finally noticed what the mask was, Naruto asked. "Can I see Oj- the Hokage?"

Saru regarded Naruto. "The Hokage will come visit later. Do you know your name or are you just playing with the staff? They're trying to find your parents kid. You do want to get home, right?"

Naruto frowned at the ANBU as the nurse returned with a doctor. "My parents are dead."

"Oh sweetie." Gasped the nurse as she rushed over and gave Naruto a hug. Naruto blinked at the reaction. What the hell was wrong with this lady?

"Ume-san, please place the patient down." Sighed the doctor. The nurse blushed before doing as asked. After that the questions began again, all of which Naruto answered honestly.

"What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"What is your name?"

"I said Uzumaki Naruto."

Sigh. "What is your age?"

"I'm 18."

"Right. How old are you?"

Naruto felt his eye twitch. "I'm 18."

Silence. "What are your parents names?"

Naruto paused at that. He was pretty sure that it was some huge secret who his parents were so he'd have to lie about that. "Don't know."

"What was the last thing you remember before the Hokage and ANBU showed up in the alleyway?"

Naruto blinked at the question before frowning as he thought back. What was the last thing he remembered? There was Madara and the Akatsuki but no, there had been something after that. Something about a weird dream and butterflies. "Butterflies.. They were glowing." Muttered Naruto in thought. After a while the doctor left with the nurse, telling the ANBU to make sure the "little girl" didn't fall asleep, and didn't come back. Naruto was still rather miffed about everyone calling him a girl. He had never looked like a girl! Haku looked hell of a lot more girlie than he had ever looked! Neji could pass as a girl easier than himself, even.

After a while Naruto glanced up at Saru. He needed to pee really badly. "What?" Asked the ANBU gruffly.

Naruto sighed and hopped off the examination table, grabbing said table to steady himself as the world jerked around for a second. When it was back in focus, the ANBU was kneeling in front of him. "You alright kid?"

Naruto nodded slowly with a frown. Why wasn't the Kyuubi healing his head already? "I need to go pee." Blurted out Naruto as the silence between them stretched out too long.

The ANBU stood up and nervously rubbed his masked cheek. "Uh.. right. Its over here." Saru lead Naruto over to the one door no one had gone through yet.

Blue eyes narrowed at the ANBU as the man tried to follow him in. "I can pee by myself, dude!" With that the door was slammed shut by the oddly small form of Naruto. The young man ignored the faint mutter of "dude?" the ANBU gave behind the door as he rushed over to the toilet. He really needed to pee. With a yank, his pants fell and Naruto moved to aim for the toilet when he came to a rather problematic issue. Glancing down with a frown the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki stifled a scream of horror. His-his man bits, his penis, everything that should had been was gone!

Staggering back from the toilet, stumbling out of his pants in the process, Naruto fell to the ground with a slight thud. He-he was a-a girl!

A GIRL!

The next instance had Naruto standing on his tip-toes to see over the sink into the mirror. There Naruto found himself staring into familiar blue eyes but that was the only thing that was similar. His hair was white if you ignored the dried blood in it. WHITE! His face was the round pudgy face of a toddler. His nose was button like. His lips pinker and fuller than they had ever been. His skin was a softer pink, peach tone and his cheeks! Naruto slid his hand -his too tiny, too delicate hand- across his bare cheeks. The whisker marks were gone.

This couldn't be real. This had to be a genjutsu! What had Ero-Sennin said about genjutsu before? Moving your chakra or a good bit of physical pain will help displace a genjutsu. Naruto glanced around for a second before, finding nothing usable, he closed his eyes and bit hard onto his bottom lip. As he licked the blood off he opened his eyes to find himself in the same place and predicament as before.

This wasn't a genjutsu? It HAD to be! Naruto pulled his shirt up and drew a little chakra to make the seal visible. This couldn't be real! He had to be in a damn genjutsu!The seal became visible and Naruto gasped in horror. It was broken, shattered into too many pieces to count. His hand trembled as he traced one of the larger shattered pieces of the seal. A flash of memory came of a chain being tugged, his voice asking for forgiveness, and then aching.

Naruto pulled his hand away. No! This couldn't be! Naruto went to the toilet, as he really couldn't hold it anymore and carefully sank into himself in search of the Kyuubi's cage. Opening his eyes Naruto looked around the sewer that was his stomach, the sound of water dripping into puddles was the only noise he could hear. He wasn't anywhere near the Kyuubi's cage. Scowling Naruto began heading in the direction.

He paused as he noticed a fog rolling over the area he was heading into. It wasn't a white fog. It was black. Perhaps it would have been better to call it smog but the blackness was light in appearance, puffy like clouds. Naruto scratched his head in confusions as he walked into it. A few minutes later he finally came to the cage. He could barely see it even as he stood right next to it.

"KYUUBI SHOW YOURSELF!" Shouted Naruto. It echoed through the place. Naruto scowled at the silence and reached out to the cage. Grabbing onto one of the bars, the boy gasped as his hand closed into a fist. The bar dissolved into fog. "No, Nooooo." Choked Naruto as he staggered back and fled. This couldn't be real! This couldn't be happening!

Naruto fell into one of the puddles as he left the fog. The water calmed as Naruto knelt, gasping for air. Blue eyes stared down in horror at the reflection of a little girl staring back at him with similar horror. "Its not a genjutsu. I'm really a girl. Its really the past. Kami." moaned Naruto as he finally understood his situation. "I freed the Kyuubi."

"Kid you alright in there?"

Naruto jerked his head up as he came back into the real world. Naruto wiped the tears off his face fiercely as he got off the toilet and pulled his pants back on. He was in the past stuck in a little girls body but he wasn't going to break down. Only weaklings and little girls cried. Naruto slid down to the floor as hysteria began to bubble up. He was a little girl and this was just too much. Naruto vaguely noticed the ANBU scoop him up as he stopped fighting his new body's demand for a physical outlet for the overwhelming sense of hopelessness that filled him.

AUAU

Naruto woke up to quiet murmurings. Slowly sitting up the child found himself, or more accurately herself, under the scrutiny of a younger Sandaime, Saru, a number of other ANBU, and some unknown woman.

The woman leaned toward Naruto with a kindly smile. "Hello cutie, I'm Morie Kyoko."

Naruto blushed as the woman unknowingly showed off her assets to the 18 year old trapped in a little girls body. "N-Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Is it now?" Kyoko's smile widened. "How old are you sweetie?"

What was up with everyone calling him sweetie? Naruto sighed, "18."

"Do you know what happened in the alleyway?" Kyoko continued the questions as she sat back up straight.

Blue eyes dulled, "No, people died." Naruto never liked having to see death, and the alleyway scene was particularly horrible.

"Do you know your parents names?"

"I don't" Naruto replied quickly. Blue eyes blinked as the people present shifted at his answer.

"You're lying sweetie." Frowned Kyoko. "You'll have to tell us. We'll learn who they are when your blood test returns even if you don't."

Naruto stilled at that. That was why they had taken his blood! What was he going to do? Naruto could honestly say he understood the reasons behind the secrecy of his parentage and he was a child again. He wouldn't be able to protect himself from everyone. Danzo, Iwa, and who knew who else would be after him if they knew! But they were going to find out because of the blood test.

"You'll not be hurt for who your parents are." Added the Hokage kindly. "We have to know though."

Naruto stared up at his Ojii. He was going to have to tell them. Naruto was fine telling his Ojii but the others... He had no clue who most of them were.

"Maha, Naoko-chan we can keep a secret you know?" Whispered Kyoko as she leaned forward again.

Blue eyes widened at the name. Naruto's face flushed in outrage at the implications. "I'm not Naoko! I'm telling the truth, don't tease me like that!"

Sarutobi chuckled as he remarked. "Now Naoko-chan, Kyoko-san isn't teasing you. You are a very honest child for none of us to be able to tell you're lying except on knowing who you parents are. Anyways, you are rather fond of Naruto for a name even though it's a boys and Naoko is rather similar. It is a good name, yes?"

Naruto took on a rather glum expression as Buta casually pulled out his medical charts and clearly wrote down his new first name. He couldn't very well complain to the Hokage about a name the Hokage likes for you, even if it meant honest child and was given in jest by a interrogation specialist that was interrogating you.

Naruto pouted at them and folded his arms, "Not telling, you won't believe me!" Naruto flushed pink again as the adults sighed, he was acting like such a child. What was the matter with him?

The Sandaime shook his head in exasperation, "Alright Naoko-chan we'll do it this way and wait for the blood test." The old man rose and nodded to Saru before smiling at Naruto, "I'll be back later this evening when the tests are done Naoko-chan. You can play some board games or something with Saru and Buta as they will be staying here with you for the day, alright?" Naruto nodded reluctantly, he didn't want to stay here all day. "Well than I will see you tonight. I'll even bring dinner, anything you would like?"

"Ramen!" Shouted Naruto almost automatically before he remembered where he was and what situation he was in. Naruto watched as the Hokage gave her a rather odd look before nodding and leaving with his entourage. Naruto, now named Naoko, turned to regard the pig and monkey masked ANBU. He didn't really want to play with anything but he was stuck in the room for the rest of the day.

Naruto sighed as he decided to ignore the ANBU guards and turned to look out the window. He was a girl stuck in the past where somehow his male self had been killed. How was he going to fix this? What was he going to do? He had even freed the Kyuubi! Did that mean the Kyuubi would come attack the village again?

Naruto became lost in his thoughts of everything that had happened, from the Akatsuki and the Great Fourth Ninja War they had begun to the dream he couldn't remember. The two ANBU settled down with a Shogi-ban at Naruto's side when it became clear the child didn't want anything to do with them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Most Honorable Daughter

That evening Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime, casually treaded back to room 120 of the hospital where an odd, little three-year-old lay resting. The old man sighed sadly as he paused to watch some fireworks fill the sky. It had been a rather stressful day, a most distressing day. Little Naruto was dead. The instance it had become common knowledge, and there had been no indication of the Kyuubi reappearing to kill them all, the law that had unsuccessfully protected Naruto had been broken permanently.

Everyone old enough to understand now knew of the Jinchuuriki that had been amongst them for a short three years. They were now celebrating, and wanting the day to become a proper holiday. It wasn't going to happen as far as the Hokage was concerned. In fact it was time to tell the village exactly who they had killed. The villagers of Konohagakure no sato would learn that they didn't kill a monster but a child, the Yondaime's son. The Sandaime should have done that from the beginning. He would have done it if only he had known.

Tired eyes closed as stress lines deepened from the pained frown that sat seemingly permanently on the elder's face. Namikaze Minato's wish for his son to be seen as a hero would become reality, even if it was after the child's death. Some of the greatest hero's were celebrated after their deaths. Sarutobi wished that this hadn't been the case for the boy.

Entering the hospital the Hokage blinked at a rather excited, bubbly nurse as she rushed over to him and bowed. "Hokage-sama here is the blood test you asked for! Would you like me to come help you with one of our most honorable children! I would have been at the room but no one has been allowed in since you left! Not even the doctors."

"That quiet alright I can handle this myself." The Sandaime smiled as he took the envelope from the nurse he knew to be new to the faculty. Most knew not to try entering ANBU guarded rooms unless asked by said ANBU.

"Hokage-sama! Can I-"

"No, no it's perfectly fine. I am sure nothing else will be needed."

"I.. Of course Hokage-sama." Gasped the woman as her face flushed. The elderly man continued his rather casual tread towards the room of a little girl that had seen too much already. She was a cute little thing. Tiny really, even for a three year old as the doctors had guessed she was. There was indication of malnutrition on the poor girl and her hair was rather odd. The Hokage paused for a second in amusement as he vaguely noted the bubbly nurse talking excitedly and far too quickly to be understood to another nurse.

Sarutobi chuckled as he continued on his path. Her hair was similar to Jiraiya's if it wasn't for the odd spikiness to it. A devilish grin flickered across the old man's face at the sudden thought of Naoko being the love child of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Wouldn't that be entertaining? Admittedly, it was extremely unlikely. It was impossible actually. Tsunade would have informed him if she had gotten pregnant, gave birth around the time of the Kyuubi attack, and then lost the child in the chaos that the kitsune had created.

The old man paused at the door to room 120 and realized belatedly that he hadn't gotten dinner yet. Oh well, he'll take the child to Ichiraku's after the matter of her relations, name, and residence was taken care of. With that thought the Hokage calmly entered the room, amused by the scene before him.

AUAU

Naruto frowned as he sat up. He was in a grassy area. Blue eyes wandered over the white skies and purple clouds. What a strange place. The little girl rose to her feet to wander. For a long time there was nothing but field of turquoise, then Naruto turned right and found himself standing in a rice field where three figures stood amongst the growing rice. Running towards them Naruto found his father Namikaze Minato and the Nidaime, Senju Tobirama, standing behind another, rather naked, feminine figure. The figure turned and regarded Naruto with a smile.

"Konichiwa Naoko-chan. I thought I would explain some things before you go into shock from the blood test." The figure smiled as Naruto finally got a proper look of the androgynous person. There was no way that a person could be a man and a woman at the same time, yet this being was. The figure was feminine if you ignored the lack of plump breasts but the voice was a low tenor, too deep for a woman to possess.

"Huh."

The figure chuckled before waving to the two Hokages. "When I gave you the gift of life that gives life, there was a slight problem with creating your physical form. I couldn't stick you back into the chibi Naruto form and then change its sex as it was unfit with the harsh extraction of the Kyuubi from it. So I went to the dear Shinigami and he gave me access to your father but that was where I hit a snag. See, I couldn't take your father out of the Shinigami's gut nor could I go get your mother since the Shinigami wouldn't have let me leave and come back. So I improvised!"

Naruto just stared blankly at the being before him. Why was he having such strange dreams lately?

The figure grinned as a fluffy, white tail slowly flicked back and forth around the figure's feet. Where had that come from? "I had to choose from someone amongst all the people in the Shinigami's gut to be your figurative mother. Figurative since there weren't any females to choose from. And well I rather like white, all my servants are white unless they try and betray me like the Kyuubi did. So I decided your mother figure would be Senju Tobirama, DNA wise mind you since I would have to guess that neither of these fine male specimen would be particularly inclined to be the bottom in such a relationship. So here are your parents! Talk, hug, be merry! You'll be stuck in this dream-scape for a good eight hours dream time. Oh and don't worry, this will be something you'll remember properly forever. Bye!" The Figure waved lightly at the little girl before vanishing without a trace.

Naruto blinked slowly at the empty space, his mouth a gap before turning to his apparent parents. "Uh."

Namikaze Minato gave a sheepish grin at his son turned daughter. "Well, while this is a strange turn of events I claim you for the first four hours to talk and properly get to know you. That alright with you, Nidaime-san?"

The Nidaime nodded with amusement gleaming in his dark amber eyes. "Aa. I'll be around." With that the white haired shinobi ran off. The two Namikazes turned to each other.

"I can't say this was what I expected to have happen if ever someone tried to extract the Kyuubi from you but I'm not displeased with it." remarked the Yondaime quietly his grin turning into a soft smile.

Naruto frowned. "I don't remember what happened. I don't understand."

"Well," Minato reached down and pulled the little form of his son turned daughter into his arms, settling her onto his hip. "You don't know how much I've want to hold you like this. Anyways, Inari-sama-"

"Inari-sama!"

"Yes, that was Inari-sama, the kitsune deity of rice, blacksmiths, fighters and such." The Yondaime began wandering amongst the rice plants, his feet treading over the water with barely a sound. "Inari-sama explained that you stopped the extraction process of the Kyuubi but the Kyuubi took control and, because of the seal, dragged your soul with him as he fled to this other existence. Once you got there you figured out how to break the seal. Luckily you broke it where you did, since if you had broken it when you were between the existences you and the Kyuubi would have ceased to exist in all existences. The other reason it was good you broke it when you did was because you gave Inari-sama the ability to capture his wayward servant. In thanks Inari-sama gave you a new life in a sense."

"Oh. But why did Inari-sama have to make me a girl? Why do I have white hair? Why am I three? Why did the Naruto in this existence die? How do I have two dads but am a girl?"

The Yondaime blinked owlishly at his daughter before laughing warmly. "Inari-sama is a fertility deity so the kitsune must have a thing for females. Inari-sama said uh... himself that he likes the color white hence you getting Senju's hair color, I guess. You have my hair textured still though! Nice and spiky but not too spiky." Minato grinned happily at that as he hopped onto solid ground. "Uh, I believe you're three because the Naruto in this existence was three. It makes sense to make you the age you would have been. Naruto had to die because of the Kyuubi being pulled out of him. I have no idea how Inari-sama made you a girl with two fathers."

Naruto frowned as he thought over all the answers and which questions they corresponded to. "Huh, but why would the Kyuubi be extracted from Naruto in this world when it was the Kyuubi from my world?"

The blond man frowned over the answer as he set his daughter down under the shade of a tree that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Well Inari-sama tried to explain that. He said something about there being one Kyuubi in all existences that was simply split amongst the worlds. It was one part of many that was dragged to Inari-sama once he got a hold of one of the pieces, the one you had freed where Inari-sama could get to."

"That doesn't make any sense." Muttered Naruto.

"No it doesn't." Agreed Minato, "Now I want to get to know my daughter!"

Naruto wrinkled his nose at his chichi when he said daughter. Grumbling, he muttered. "I can't believe Inari-sama made me a girl."

Minato laughed warmly as he grabbed his daughter and sent her into a fit of laughter from a sudden tickle attack. The Yondaime only ceased at the cry of defeat that came from his tiny child.

"Tou-chan?"

Minato smiled widely as he lay besides his three year old, "Hmm?"

"Since Kaa-san isn't my Kaa-san anymore does that mean I'll not be me?"

The Yondaime sat up at that and regarded his daughter seriously, "It does in a sense. You're going to forget. That means you'll lose some aspects about yourself that had been from Kushina. I think, though, that you'll subconsciously retain the cute parts."

Naruto blinked up at his Tou-chan. "Eh?"

"I think you'll still love bright colors. I know you will always love ramen. You'll be a prankster just like your mother, again. Maybe you'll even give the same excuse for all the pranks. I don't know for sure, but I am willing to bet that these aspects will stay."

Naruto hummed in interest. "Ero-Sennin always said that I had Kaa-san's personality but your looks."

Minato shook his head lightly, "I don't know about that. Maybe Jiraiya saw it that way because Kushina was always so loud it was hard to ignore her and you definitely had gotten that from her."

"But I'm still like that. I'm an idiot, I'm brash, I'm loud!"

The young man shook his head at his little girl. "Naoko-chan you were brash, you were loud but never were you an idiot. You simple never paused long enough to have a chance to think things through. Your mother was the same way, but she learned to control that as she got older. Admittedly, I don't think you'll have that problem this time around."

"Nani?"

Azure eyes meet similar blue. "You haven't been loud, brash, nor haven't thought before acting since you have come to this existence, Naoko-chan. You have been relatively calm, quiet, and thoughtful throughout the process. I would think you would have exploded the instance you saw the Sandaime or your male equivalents dead body, but you didn't. Maybe it's just everything being too much for you right now but I think you'll be more like me or the Nidaime personality wise this time around."

Naruto frowned at all that. It was strange thinking about that but true. He hadn't done anything stupid since waking up in that alleyway. But then again..."It has only been a day since I got to this world," Scowled Naruto as he looked up at his father.

Minato smiled, "True."

"And I'm Naruto not Naoko!"

"Iie." Minato frowned lightly at Naruto. "You are Naoko, Naoko-chan. You are my daughter. You are a girl and you will always be one. Uzumaki Naruto is dead. My son is dead but I gained a daughter in the process. You may have the memories of Naruto but Naruto and Naoko are different people."

Naruto glared at her Tou-chan. "But I'm Naruto!"

"You are but you aren't." Minato sighed as he reached out and brushed white hair from Naoko's face. "You will forget, though a vague sense of what has been will remain. You are Naruto in a girls body now but soon you will become Naoko with an almost deja vu sense when you meet someone you've known or a major event occurs. You need to start thinking of yourself as Naoko, Naoko-chan. It will bring questions if you don't respond to your new name."

Naruto frowned as he thought about it. He didn't understand what he meant about all that but he was stuck in a girls body so Naruto guessed that his dad was right in the fact that he was going to have to start thinking of himself as Naoko, as a little girl. Moving away from the serious conversation, something Naruto held little desire to continue, the little girl asked something that had been on her mind for a good while, years actually. "So Kaa-san likes ramen too? Does she eat as much I do? What's her favorite flavor? What's yours?"

The Yondaime laughed heartedly at the sudden bombardment of ramen focused questions. "Hai, Kushina liked ramen. I think you're the only person who has ever eaten so much ramen in one sitting, probably because of the physically taxing demand of the Kyuubi's seal. Her favorite flavor was miso beef. Mine is simply miso. What's your favorite flavor Naoko-chan?" With that the serious conversation they had just had fell to the back of the three year olds mind as she learned about her father and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with him.

As the fourth hour ended the Nidaime appeared before them regarding their laughing forms with a curious expression. "I hope you don't mind me taking Naoko-chan now."

Minato nodded as he stood up and stretched. "She's yours now." The blond man knelt beside his daughter and gave her a hug, whispering, "Love ya, see you soon." Naoko blinked away tears as Namikaze Minato faded from existence. He hadn't expected that.

"Naoko-chan do you have any important questions or did Minato-san answer them for you?" Asked Tobirama quietly, looking faintly uncomfortable.

"Iie Otou-san." Naruto blushed as he looked down. This was a legend! Yes, his Tou-chan was a legend and hero but Naruto had gotten a chance to get used to the idea of the Yellow Flash being his father. The fact that the Nidaime was also his father was mind blowing. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to act? Naruto had gotten the sense of who Namikaze Minato was through Jiraiya and so hadn't been too worried about his actions and words but this was absolutely different!

"Maha, Naoko-chan do you know how to play Go?" Naruto looked up, startled. There sitting between them was a beautifully carved Go board.

"No. I.. uhâ€¦ I never got a chance or...umâ€¦"

"It's alright. I'll show you the basics." Naruto sat down and listened carefully as the rules were explained. This game was very complicated. Why were they playing it? Naruto wanted to get to know his new father and this wasn't making things any easier.

After a good hour of explaining and playing a game, the board was cleared and Naruto found himself shyly staring through his white hair up at the Nidaime. He couldn't understand what had gotten into him, he was never shy! Or, well, he had never been shy before. Naruto stifled a squeak of surprise when his eyes suddenly meet Senju Tobirama's ember orbs.

"Now that you know the basics, this is what we're going to do." The Hokage lifted one of the small white pebbles that were his, "For each stone we place on the board we get to ask the other a question. Make sense?"

Naruto's eyes widened for a second before the little girl grinned up at her Otou-san. "Cool! Since I'm black I go first huh?"

At the slight nodded from the Nidaime, Naoko placed her first bead and asked, "What is your favorite food?"

Tobirama blinked at her before he chuckled softly and answered, "I would have to say Sukiyaki." The man than casually placed his piece, "So what is your favorite past time, hobby?"

Naruto blinked at that. "Umm, training!"

Amber eyes blinked almost lazily at the little girl, "Maha, I meant outside of training."

Naruto blushed, "Oh, well I like to hang out with my friends andâ€¦" Naruto frowned as he paused to really think about it. What did he do outside of training? Anything? A sudden thought popped into his head. "I like gardening."

The Nidaime smiled at that. "That is a good past time. I never got into it since it was more Hashirama's thing but it is a good hobby."

Naruto smiled at that, he had missed his plants strangely enough during his three year training trip with Jiraiya. Or maybe he had missed the peace and joy of being able to care for something. Naruto shook his head before placing his next piece and turning to his Otou-san to continue with this game of questions. Hours past as they soon found themselves talking and playing around like a normal father and daughter, the Go board long sense forgotten.

Naoko jerked her head up as she moved from her hiding place for their game of hide and seek. The world was fading just as her Tou-chan had done when he had left. Senju Tobirama suddenly appeared before her. "Well the eight hours are up. Iâ€¦ Till next time, sweet heart." Naruto blinked as his Otou-san hesitantly hugged him before fading with the world.

"Bye Otou-san."

AUAU

The Sandaime regarded Saru and Buta as the two ANBU tried to stand to attention. Only Saru was successful as Buta had to stop rising to his feet when the sleeping child began to roll into his seat, towards the edge of the hospital bed. She was spread across the bed, her head leaning against the pig ANBU, and her feet resting on her pillow.

"How exactly did she get into that position?" Asked Sarutobi as he watched the little girl shift around until her arms snagged onto one of Buta's thighs. Buta shifted uncomfortably as the little girl snuggled up against him.

"She didn't want to play any games so we ended up having a couple rounds of Shogi. At some point she had started to watch and ended up falling asleep during it." Explained Saru, amusement coloring his words.

"Aa. Well Buta if you'd be so kind as to wake her, we can begin this."

Buta nodded and carefully nudged the three year old. As the little girl began to wake up, the pig ANBU pulled the arms off his thigh and rolled the little girl onto her back, into the middle of the bed, so that he could get up.

Blue eyes blurringly blinked open as the little girl muttered, "Otou-san."

"Naoko-chan, can you get up? We have your blood test results." Said the Hokage as he watched the little girl begin to curl back up to sleep.

"Five more minutesâ€¦" came the mumbled answer.

"Hmm, Naoko-chan the sooner you're up, the sooner we can take care of your blood tests, place of residence, last name, and the sooner we can go to Ichiraku's for ramen."

The little girl was suddenly sitting up, wide awake. She's just like Naruto-kun mussed the Hokage before he went back to the subject on hand. Holding out the sealed envelope the elderly man explained, "Here's your blood test. It's only proper for you to see it first."

The little girl nodded slowly as she took the yellow envelope and ripped it open. Sarutobi Hiruzen watched as sleepy blue eyes widened in shock for a second before a rather familiar smile stretched across the little girl's face.

AUAU

Naruto grumbled in his head as he tried to ignore his Ojii-san and the two ANBU that were trying to wake him up. He didn't want to get up. He hadn't wanted to leave that dream. It had been amazing to get to know his dad and the Nidaime. It was too bad that it was just a dream, something he had made up. Naruto had never thought he had such a vivid imagination but his dreams of late have been so very strange and amazing.

"Hmm, Naoko-chan the sooner you're up, the sooner we can take care of your blood tests, place of residence, last name, and then the sooner we can go to Ichiraku's for ramen."

Naruto shot up in bed at that, all thoughts of his strange dreams going to the back of his mind, though oddly enough he could remember this last dream perfectly still. The little girl focused onto the Hokage or more specifically the yellow envelope as the elderly man held it out to her. Taking it, Naruto ripped it open and curiously looked it over. While he had been told who his parents were, Naruto had never actually gotten to see physical proof that his parents were Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. It was nice to finally get a chance to see proof of who his parents were.

Blood Test #231043G432U323N

Gender: Female

Age: 3

Estimated Birthday: October 8-October 13

Blood Type: B

Father: Namikaze Minato ERROR ERROR

/:::/::#232413G324R235:: Father: Senju Tobirama

Mother: ERROR none found ERROR

Note: Test was done ten times. The test has indicated that this child has two fathers and no mother. Impossible as it might be, this is the result. Possible genetic alteration could explain this occurrence.

Naruto held his tongue as he read the paper for a third time. This was impossible, but here it was. Blue eyes blinked slowly as his dream jumped back to the forefront of his mind. It had been real. It hadn't been something he had made up. Naruto slowly looked up to the Hokage and the two ANBU with a helpless smile. What was going to happen now?

"Can you read it Naoko-chan?" the Hokage smiled warmly down at Naruto. Blue orbs blinked at that. That was right, he was three. Did three year olds have the ability to read? Oh well, he did. Naruto really had no desire to claim otherwise. This way was easier.

"I don't understand it Oji-Hokage-sama. It says I don't have a mother but I know my Kaa-san was called Kushina!"

Naruto watched as the Hokages eyes widened fractionally at the name. "Well Naoko-chan it must be that your mother wasn't in the data base. May I see the paper?"

Naruto silently handed the paper over to his Ojii-san. It was time to see what the old man did about this. Blue eyes watched the utter shock that spread across the Hokage's face.

AUAU

The old man stared down at the paper, his mind exploding with all the possibilities. It was utterly impossible what the paper was saying. But it was true. Sarutobi looked back down at the little white haired girl. She had sensei's hair color. She had Minato's hair texture. Her eyes were Minato's. Her skin was the pale peach of the Nidaime's. Her smile had been so familiar because he had seen it many times on Minato's face. She was the Yondaime's and the Nidaime's daughter.

He had to hide her. People couldn't know about her until she was able to protect herself. He stared into the deep blue eyes for a second before turning to his ANBU. Where to hide her? What to do?

The nurse! The Sandaime sucked in a sharp breath. The bubbly nurse had asked if she could help one of their most honorable children! Only Hokage children and grandchildren are given the title of most honorable. She knew and she was not the type of girl to keep it quiet. The girl hadn't even known not to try and enter an ANBU guarded room for Kami sakes.

But she wasn't one of the nurses that had taken care of Naoko earlier. She could still be hidden but where? He couldn't place her within his home or with any of the shinobi or kunoichi that he trusted since that would be too obvious. Danzo would be demanding access to her. She would have to be hidden amongst the citizens. He wouldn't even be able to visit her unless he placed her somewhere he visited already.

Tsunade would be outraged if she wasn't allowed to at least meet her niece. That was it! Tsunade could take Naoko in but until than where to put her?

"Hokage-sama?" Saru interrupted his thoughts.

The elderly man regarded his ANBU and Naoko. "Take Naoko to the ANBU Headquarters and hide her in one of your rooms. Then one of you go get all the ANBU and the interrogation team that had met Naoko and have everyone stay in the room with Naoko-chan. Collect ramen for dinner and have Yamanaka Inoichi join you in the room.." The Hokage took Naoko's folder and placed the blood test into it before handing it to Buta. "I will be there momentarily."

"Hai." The Sandaime watched as his ANBU took little Namikaze Senju Naoko to safety. Leaving the room the elderly man found the list of doctors and nurses that had taken care of Naoko and requested all of them to be brought to him in one of the larger hospital offices immediately. Damage control had to be taken care of now.

AUAU

Naoko stared around the ANBU headquarters that was hidden inside a rundown apartment building in the red light district of Konoha. It was a cozy building on the inside. It was a place that you could call homey if it wasn't for all the masked figures casually popping out of nowhere. After numerous turns and stairs that made it impossible for Naruto to figure out how to get out, they stopped before a plain door. Inside was an equally plain room.

"I don't usually stay here." Remarked the monkey ANBU that had brought her here while Buta went to take care of everything else.

"Oh," muttered Naruto as he was set onto the bed. "How will everyone fit in here?"

Saru shrugged as he settled besides her. They sat in silence for some minutes until the door opened without any preemptive request for entry. Yamanaka Inoichi entered followed by many of the ANBU from earlier.

"Know what this is about?" Asked one of the ANBU, the off white coat marking him as the captain to the squad, as he leaned against one of the walls, his arms folded across his chest. Any answer was interrupted by the door opening again, allowing Morie Kyoko in.

"Well?" asked Inoichi as he claimed the one chair in the room.

The answer was interrupted again, this time by Kyoko squealing at the sight of Naoko. Naruto blinked as he found himself suddenly in Kyoko's lap. "You're as cute as ever Naoko-chan."

"What's the kid doing here Saru?" Asked the captain his voice tinted with annoyance at the gushing one of T&amp;I's best interrogators was doing.

"This is about her." Saru explained.

The room fell silent again as everyone waited for the rest, and most specifically the Hokage to come. A good twenty minutes later the door opened, letting in the last of the ANBU all of who were carrying some Ichiraku's ramen. Buta sighed as he dropped Naoko's medical folder onto the desk and helped hand out the ramen bowls to everyone.

"We got chicken miso, beef, and just plain miso," Explained Buta. "Hokage orders. He's paying for it all."

"I'd like a chicken miso!" grinned Naruto, his blue eyes gleaming. Buta shook his head at the child before handing over the requested bowl. Soon everyone had claimed one, leaving a couple for seconds and the Hokage.

The sound of slurping was interrupted by the sudden choking sound coming from one Yamanaka Inoichi who had decided to pursue Naoko's medical folder. The paper on top was the blood test results. Before Inoichi could recover from his choking fit, Kyoko had grabbed the top paper and read it out loud.

"Blood test # 231043G432U323N... you're a girl, that good. You are a tiny three year old sweetie. Oh, October birthday. That sucks. Hehehe, we got the same blood type. What the hell... Your dad and... You got two dads? Damn you're like rol-"

"Kyoko, shut up," Choked out Inoichi. "This isn't the time or the place for that."

The young brown haired woman flushed. "Right, right. Sorry."

"No, do continue." Kyoko jumped as she turned around to find the Hokage stand there by the door. "Everyone might as well learn why they're here. This will make things make a little more sense." She flushed and quickly placed the paperwork back in the folder.

"Uh, I.. I think you should probably tell everyone Hokage-sama."

The third smiled grimly before he took a ramen bowl and settled into the chair Inoichi vacated. The room fell into silence again. Naoko watched as she felt her eyes grow heavy. It was stupid, he had just had a nap not too long ago. He hated being so young and small. Naruto pinched himself to keep from falling asleep as the Hokage finished his ramen bowl.

"What Kyoko-san was in the process of telling you all is that Naoko-chan is somehow the daughter of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime, and Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime. The blood test was done ten times and came up with the same results. She doesn't have a mother by blood, though I believe her mother was Uzumaki Kushina before whatever genetic experiment was done to her. That makes her the twin sister of the late Uzumaki Naruto. The nurse who did this test for us had foolishly spread the news of Naoko-chan to the rest of the hospital already though, luckily, the nurse didn't know her name or appearance. The village will soon know there is a little three year old girl out there with the Nidaime and Yondaime as parents. We need to protect Naoko-chan without letting people know who she is."

No one moved at all as they digested their leader's words. Finally Inoichi spoke up. "When was the genetic experiments done do you think?"

"I can't be sure but the doctors that took care of Naoko all agree that it had to have happened before she was born. If it had occurred after there would have been at least some indication of who her mother was. Orochimaru was present in the village for the first couple of months of Kushina's pregnancy before that long triple s-ranked mission he was sent on by Minato. Of course he did also have the two years after the Kyuubi attack to experiment and hide her from us. But this isn't the important part right now. No one can know Naoko is who she is. Inoichi-kun the doctors and nurses that were taking care of Naoko earlier are all waiting in room 323 at the hospital. Make sure they do not remember what she looks like or is called."

Yamanaka Inoichi nodded and left.

"ANBU, the Central Children's Orphanage is to be caught on fire by a stray firework or two in an hour. No one is to die but the children will have to be separated into two groups to be sent to the other two orphanages. Naoko will be in the group that has the new caretaker with them. One Akiko. She doesn't know all the children yet. Afterwards you will come back and some of you will be heading out to find Tsunade. She will want to know about her niece. Everyone understands that no one can know about who she is?"

A resounding "Hai." filled the small room. A second later Naruto found himself being carried back through the halls and out towards a very old building that was apparently the orphanage. It was going to be a long night.

AUAU

Uzumaki Naruto stared around the small room he had been brought to after the fire. It wasn't bad. The room had two rows of beds facing each other from parallel walls. It was plain, but workable. A loud squeal shook the eighteen year old from his thoughts of how to incorporate orange into the room decor. The sudden influx of tiny little bodies reminded him that not only was he sharing the room but he was sharing it with a large number of little girls. He was going to perish. Multiple pairs of eyes settled onto him. Yes, he was most definitely doomed.

"Hello," smiled one of the older little girls. Naruto guessed she was about five years old. "What's your name? I'm Yuki and this is Moriko, and this is Ume and this is Tori and this isâ€¦."

AUAU

Sarutobi watched as the courtyard filled with citizens and shinobi of Konoha. This wasn't going to end well but it had to be done. He was going to tell them about the truth involving little Naruto. The elderly man focused on a large group of children crowding into the courtyard. The orphanages were present. His eyes scanned over the children until he spotted a head of white amongst the youngest. She was safe.

"Hokage-sama, the courtyard is nearly full. Another few minutes and the available citizens and shinobi will be present for you announcement."

The old man nodded to his ANBU guard. It was almost time.

AUAU

Naruto stared around the crowded area with tired eyes. He had barely gotten any sleep at all. Yuki and all the other five year olds decided to make it a huge overnight party in their dorms. And since the caretakers were busy figuring out where to place the other children, making sure the children were alright, and calming down the babies of the group they hadn't noticed until the early hours of the morning.

Now they had to be present for this! The little white haired three-year-old stifled another yawn when she suddenly found herself being held. Looking sharply over revealed a twenty or so year-old man holding her up so she could see above the crowd.

"Hello kid, have an alright night?" Warm black eyes regarded her. Naruto stared blankly for a second before it clicked.

Blue eyes widened. "Saru!"

"Aa, no mask, I'm Toshi." Smiled the young man. Naruto nodded, he wasn't supposed to call him Saru unless he was in his ANBU gear. He couldn't help but wonder if Toshi was Saru's real name for a second before shrugging.

Toshi shifted Naoko around until the little girl was resting her head on his shoulders. "We can't protect you openly but all of us will be watching over you. I know you're young but please understand that you need to keep quiet about everything that has occurred these past couple of hours. Can you do that for us?" The ANBU whispered into Naruto's ear.

Naoko nodded in understanding. The ANBU smiled in response before turning to the Hokage as he stepped out onto the balcony. His usually kind face was grim.

AUAU

The Sandaime stared out across the crowd, taking note of all the people he knew personally and the larger amount of nameless faces before him. "Yesterday you celebrated the death of a demon."

He paused as the crowd yelled in joy from the reminder. "Today I will tell you a story of a man who trusted his village with his family. This man gave his life protecting the village and in return hoped that his children would be protected and loved. It didn't happen."

Hiruzen fell silent as he watched the rowdy crowd grow quiet, uncertain faces looked up at him. "That man chose to place a heavy burden on his son to protect the village. He asked that his son would be called a hero. I'm standing here today to tell you that the child was a hero but no one saw it that way. I'm here to explain to you exactly what you were celebrating the death of yesterday."

Whispers filtered across the shifting crowd. "Uzumaki Naruto was that boy. He was given the burden of holding back the Kyuubi. The seal wasn't supposed to be strong enough to hold the demon back at his death until Naruto went into his twenties. I don't know why it held. I don't know how. But I do know that you all celebrated the death of an innocent three year old hero last night. I know that you celebrated the death of the son of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime."

Silence filled the courtyard before suddenly there were screams and horrified cries. The shinobi stood at the side of the crowd their bodies' stiff, faces blank as they processed what their leader had said. The civilians were screaming everything from denial to the demon taking one of their precious children. The Sandaime watched in silence for a few minutes before shouting out for attention. The silent shinobi helped still the horrified crowd.

After another ten minutes the courtyard was quiet once again. "It is painful to know that such a young hero of Konoha has been taken but last night also revealed the existences of a little girl. I believe most of you have heard of the strange blood test that revealed that there is a little girl who possesses two fathers and no mother. I am here to confirm this rumor. I will also confirm that the child is somehow the daughter of the Yondaime and Nidaime. She is hidden and protected. You will not meet her officially for years to come. I will not have her killed like little Naruto, her twin. I can tell you that it is believed to be a result of one of Orochimaru's genetic experiments."

The Sandaime watched the crowd as it struggled with celebration and grief. He had given them two very opposing facts. The elderly man could only hope that the village learns from their foolishness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Red Clouded Crow

Naruto sat there staring blandly at the piece of paper before him. He absolutely hated being three. Looking over at the other toddlers sitting at the tiny child's table revealed that they were happily coloring the paper as many colors as they could. Oh why did he have to be stuck in a toddler's body?

"Naoko-chan are you alright?" Naruto looked up at Akiko, their caretaker for the day. "You don't want to color? I could make you a cute ducky for you to make a pretty pink or red!"

Naruto felt himself grow ill. Why? Kami why did Inari-sama hate him so! Naruto quickly shook his head no at the offer before standing up and wandering to one of the windows. Staring out to the bustling streets of Konoha made him wonder what he could do. What was the point of being in the past if you're stuck in an orphanage unable to train, to change things for the better?

A group of dark haired men wandered over to a stall where the owner bowed deeply to them. Naruto frowned at the interaction. He couldn't ever remember anyone acting that way for anyone but the Hokage. Who were these people?

The little white haired girl rose onto her tip toes, pressing her nose into the cool glass. Her blue eyes squinted as she tried to see details of the men. When she had been a boy she could have seen them easily. Naruto scowled as they walked farther away. How he hated being stuck in a weak three year old girl's body!

"Danzo-sama, Homura-sama, Koharu-sama! What do we owe for this lovely visit?" Naruto stiffened by the window.

"Ah, we simply wish to see if the children from the Central Children's Orphanage are settling in properly and of course any new children that have been brought to the orphanage." Smiled Utatane Koharu , her wrinkled face scrunched up like a cat that had smelt something particularly terrible. "We already visited the Western Children's Orphanage earlier today."

"Oh how kind of you all! I must say that everyone is doing quite well." Akiko beamed at the advisors before sighing. "I'm afraid we don't have any new children. I myself was hoping that our most honorable daughter would be brought here so that we could have her adopted by a proper clan but it's really silly thinking, I know. Why would the Hokage send her to an orphanage of all places! But I hope he goes back on his statement of hiding her from us all. I know many that would like to apologize to her fo-for taking poor little Na-Naruto!" Her voice cracked near the end as tears welled up. Utatane Koharu stepped forward to comfort the much younger woman as Shimura Danzo and Mitokado Homura began to casually wander around the room.

They carefully looked over the children that could pass as three year olds, even though most weren't. Naruto struggled to calm his heart. They were trying to find him! What was he going to do! Naruto stared out the window as he watched from the corner of his eye as Mitokado Homura headed slowly towards him through the crowds of children. The elderly man hadn't yet noticed Naruto but it would occur any time now.

"Well hello there, what are you doing by the window?" smiled Mitokado as he looked down at Naruto. Naruto slowly looked up at the man, his face blank.

"Watching clouds." The little child finally blurted out. Naruto found himself silently thanking Shikamaru for that excuse, one that the lazy boy gave when troublesome wasn't a good enough answer for the askee (who was usually Ino). Blue eyes watched as a slight flustered look crossed the old man's face before the advisor nodded bye and left quickly to Danzo's side. Naruto carefully looked back through the window, this time actually looking up at the white puffy clouds. It was good to know that the infamous Nara response flustered even the Hokage's advisors.

"There are no blonds here," remarked Homura quietly to Danzo. "Are we sure she would be a blond like her twin?"

Danzo's reflection in the window gave an almost scandalized look to his fellow advisor. "We all agreed that it would be most likely. Because of the genetic experiments done on her, she couldn't possibly have red hair. And I can assert that none of the genetic experiments that Orochimaru had done changed the original physical appearance of the person. Since she has none of her mother's genetics, indicated through the blood test, she must have all the same colorings as the Jinchuuriki."

Naruto mouth dropped open at those words. That hadn't made any sense, not that he was complaining. No one had ever claimed that the advisors had understood genetics or any of that all that well. Blue eyes blinked as the sudden thought popped into his head. At this time there wasn't much understood about genetics let alone how genetic experiments could affect a person. Part of that was because of the illegalities of the procedures in Fire country. It wasn't until the Demon country opened its borders again in 12 or so years that the knowledge became available since it was legal over there. Right now only Orochimaru had any real knowledge on the subject, though whether he had ever really thought about his knowledge in a productive manner is debatable since he had only ever been interested in immortality.

Right now the most people knew was how to compare genetics of one person to another to find relationships. There were a lot of breakthroughs in genetics over the next five years or so. Naruto shook his head at the knowledge that all those ridiculous lectures Sakura went into around him about the medical subjects she was studying at the time actually came in handy. He couldn't quite believe that he had remembered that much about it. Wasn't this the lecture where he decided to see if he could breathe underwater?

"Danzo-sama, the Hokage is requesting your presence." Spoke up a young, dark haired man as he stood by the doorway. His reflection looked oddly familiar. Naruto turned and looked at him. Dark hair, dark eyes, way too pale skin. Naruto frowned he looked sort of likeâ€¦ Azure orbs widened as the man turned to follow Danzo out. On the back of his shirt was a red and white fan. He was an Uchiha.

Sasuke

Naruto turned back to the window and slid down onto his bottom. Sasuke was still in the village. He was three just like him. His clan was still alive! Blue eyes stared out the window clouded with thought. He could save Sasuke! He could go make friends now and be there for him. It wasn't like Naruto could stop Itachi, he wasn't skilled enough to do that! But he could have people notice the massacre before it was complete! Naruto could save Sasuke and some of the other Uchiha!

A large grin spread across Naruto's face. He could save Sasuke! Naruto jumped up, he had been stuck in this damn orphanage for two whole weeks whining to himself about being in a three year olds body when he could have been sneaking off to find Sasuke and work on becoming friends. Kami knows how long that's going to take! Sasuke is such a bastard after all.

Blue eyes narrowed on the caretaker, now he just had to convince her to let them outside â€"eyes glanced at the clockâ€" a good three hours early. Naruto frowned as he looked at her and then at the other children in the room before grinning. This could work perfectly. Naruto casually walked over to the group of five year olds, little loudmouth Yuki specifically.

"Yuki-kun! Yuki-kun!" Gasped Naruto as he sudden started running over to her.

The little girl blinked at the three year old. "Yes Naoko-chan? Do you want to play dolls with us?" A slight exasperated sigh escaped the five year old. Clearly she had had enough entertaining little silly three year olds for this morning. Naruto glanced over at Haruko, his fellow three year old. He couldn't really blame Yuki for not wanting to play with another little kid. Haruko was an idiot in Naruto's opinion, of course that wasn't quiet fair since Naruto was comparing them all to what he remembered of his childhood and how the rookie nine had been. His memory seemed to have twisted into making the entire rookie nine out to be geniuses compared to these kids.

"No, Yuki-kun I want to play outside! The flowers are pretty!" Pouted Naruto even though he felt like a idiot. The little, blue eyed girl continued. "I want to pick them before they are all taken away by the older girls out there!"

Yuki's eyes widened in horror, "Nani, all gone?" Naruto watched as Yuki rose quickly and grabbed her fellow five year olds before rushing Akiko-san. "Akiko-san! Akiko-san! Can we go outside?"

Moriko yelled, "I want to go outside! It's boring here!" The other five year olds soon joined in yelling at the poor caretaker about the flowers and wanting to go out before they are all gone. Naruto simply smiled in self-satisfaction. After another minute of screaming the head caretaker, one Hayashi Yumi, entered, looked at the issue and shouted above everyone, "Outside now! None of you are coming back in until dinner. Damn racket is giving me a fucking headache."

Naruto shook his head at the woman. If he ever got a chance, he was going to inform Jiji that the head caretaker was always getting over a hangover on Mondays. Not the best thing to do when having to take care of children but absolutely perfect to take advantage of.

AUAU

Naruto grinned widely as he found himself running through the quiet section of town that separated the Uchiha residence and the major shopping district of Konoha. From his understanding the Uchiha personal training grounds was what he was running by now. It was a rather intelligent way to separate the loud, busy district from a residential. Naruto disliked how loud it was living just outside the major part of the district himself. He couldn't wait till he could figure out a way to move into one of the small studio apartments that was reserved for orphaned genin and sometimes genin-to-be. Perhaps he could even get his old apartment back!

"Are you lost?"

Blue eyes blinked at the sudden question, horrified that he hadn't noticed someone that close to him. Even if he was stuck in a three year olds body couldn't mean he had lost all his skills, could it?

"Do you want me to take you back to the shopping district? Your mother there?"

Naruto frowned as he turned to thank the person for the offer. Blue eyes widened as he stared up into black orbs of a Uchiha. The stress lines under each eye, though far less prominent than last Naruto had saw them, told Naruto exactly who was offering him help. A strange pain flashed over his abdomen as Uchiha Itachi walked towards him.

The little girl gasped as bile filled her mouth and she doubled over. Naruto found himself upchucking. It felt like something was clawing its way back up his throat. Why the hell was he reacting like this in front of Uchiha Itachi of all people! He had to get away, not stand in front of the mass murder and throw up!

"eh, you alright?" Surprise and uncertain colored the future murderers words. If Naruto hadn't been busy upchucking he would have had to wonder if he had ever heard that much emotion from the Uchiha before. Instead the blue eyed child continued to struggle to cough up whatever it was that was trying to get out. Naruto was even too busy to jerk away from the chibi Itachi as the boy touched his shoulders in a hesitant action of comfort. He was getting dizzy.

"Justâ€¦ just calm down and breathe through your nose."

The little girl closed her eyes as she reluctantly followed the orders. It helped a lot. The light headed feeling faded and Naruto was soon able to force his mouth wide open and coughed more controllably this time. Another moment and finally the thing fell out of Naruto's mouth. Blue and black eyes stared down at it in shock. He had just thrown up a raven!

The raven got up on to its feet and looked up at the two humans for a short staring contest before, with a jump, it somehow rammed itself into Itachi's chest and dissolved. Itachi gave a soft uhf before slumping forward, resting his head onto Naruto's small shoulder. What was going on? When had he gotten a raven in his gut?

Naruto shifted slightly as the weight of the Uchiha began to become too much. What was the last thing he remembered? Did it involve a raven? Itachi? Naruto scowled at that, it hadn't really been about the Uchiha. Blue eyes glared over at the man, he had been involved of course but it had been mainly that puppet master and clay dude that they had been forced to fight. He hadn't actually seen the mass murder in person since before he had left for training with Jiraiya.

"Naruto-kun." Came a sudden quiet mummer from the Uchiha as he lifted his head. Wide blue eyes meet suddenly very tired, pained black ones. "You will tell me what has happened."

The three year old glared at the mass murderer, for somehow this really was the mass murderer and not just the boy that would become one. "Why the hell should I tell you anything!"

Itachi sighed as he got up to his feet. "We are both trapped in our- are you in a girl's body?"

Naruto shifted as he mumbled in reply. This wasn't how this was supposed to go! He was supposed to be making friends with Sasuke right now. He was most definitely not supposed to have brought the future and insane Itachi to the past and have a random ass conversation with him!

"What was that?"

"Yea, I'm in a girl's body teme." Naruto glared up at the chest of the boy. He had at least learned to not look an Uchiha in the eye.

Itachi sighed again before grabbing Naruto's arm and dragging the tiny, struggling body into the forested training grounds by the road. After a few minutes of walking, and cursing on Naruto's part, Itachi slowed to a stop by a clearing that had a bench of all things sitting under a tree.

Naruto found himself sitting on the bench with Itachi kneeling in front of him. "Now, Naruto-kun you need to tell me what is going on."

Blue eyes glared into black. "Why should I murderer?"

The little girl paused as she saw a faint, but visible flinch come from Itachi.

"You will not believe me Naruto-kun, but, as it might actually get you talking, I am willing to explain to you about what happened with the mass murder of my family."

Naruto simply stared at the boy in front of him with a rather bland expression. "You're kidding me right? Explain what? There's nothing to explain! You killed your family but kept Sasuke alive to mess with him because you're a sick bastard! Now leave me alone, I'm going to go befriend Sasuke so that this time he won't leave Konoha. Maybe I'll even be able to convince everyone that your psycho and are going to kill your entire clan in a couple of years so that they'll execute you or something!"

Itachi's suddenly harsh grip on Naruto's arms kept the 18-year-old-three-year-old in his place on the bench. "They're alive?" Whispered Itachi. Naruto stilled his struggle at the absolute horrified agony that dripped off Itachi's words.

Blue eye's looked up into gleaming black. He was on the verge of crying. What the hell? It clicked rather quickly as Naruto thought of his own reactions since coming to this world. It had taken a bit longer for his new, small, and younger body to take hold of his emotions and sometime even his actions, but he had found himself acting like a three-year-old every once in a while. Especially when he thought of all his precious people that were alive again. It made sense that Itachi would be more emotional as a kid, who isn't? But his reaction to knowing that his family was alive didn't fit with what the man had done. With the reason the man had given to Sasuke.

Naruto breathed out in growing horror. "Why did you kill your family?"

Itachi suddenly released Naruto and looked away. As the silence stretch between them the little girl started to squirm. "Look, teme. If you're not going to tell me about why you killed them, even though you said you'd tell me, then I'll be going. I got to go befriend Sasuke so he doesn't go insane and leave Konoha this time around."

As Naruto hopped up to leave Itachi spoke. "Orders are orders, Naruto-kun. My clan was planning to usurp the council and Hokage. They were threatening to begin a civil war. I did as the advisors and Hokage ordered except I demanded that Sasuke be allowed to live. I insisted that the truth of what happened wasn't told to Sasuke. They agreed."

The two children fell back into silence. Naruto couldn't decide what to do. What could he say? Naruto knelt as he tried to ignore the shaking of his body, or the fact that his Ojii had ordered for something like that. Blue eyes closed as he forced himself to focus back to the matter at hand.

"I'm going to stop the massacre this time. You'll not have to kill them."

Itachi shook his head at Naruto. "That is one promise you will not be able to keep Naruto-kun."

An inexplicit sense of annoyance filled Naruto at the word promise. "This isn't a promise. It's fact."

Black orbs looked up at Naruto carefully before a faint smile flickered across the young face of Uchiha Itachi. The boy changed the subject. "You want to save my brother still? And you're going to start by trying to befriend him?"

"Yeah, so?"

"He'll only pay any attention to you if you're strong. Don't think that part of Sasuke began after the massacre. It has always been a part of his person, especially when it came to girls."

Naruto puffed his cheeks out in annoyance. "I'm plenty strong! Come on, let's fight! I'll show you how strong I am. I got way better since I was twelve!"

The three-year-old ignored the startled look on Itachi's face as he jumped up and formed the hand seal of a cross with his index fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A puff of smoke revealed a single kage bunshin.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto ignored the cry of surprise from Itachi as he drew up chakra and with the help of the shadow clone began to create the rasengan. Itachi gapped at Naruto as the girl finished the move and cried out as she moved to run at him. "RASENGAN!"

It took only a few steps before Naruto gave a slight gasp of surprise and crumbled to the ground, the ball of chakra exploding outward in a sharp, circular wind.

AUAU

Itachi stared down at the little girl that he knew was Uzumaki Naruto. Damn that boy! The only thing he had gotten out of him was that they were somehow in the past before his family was dead and that he planned on befriending Sasuke. The idiot child seemed to think they hadn't fought since he was twelve to top it off. It was as if the child had been brought from the future before he had even given the raven, which should have only been his skills with the Mangekyou sharingan for Sasuke, not all his memories. How was that even possible? Naruto-kun had of been from after the time he had forced the raven down his throat in hopes that that power would help Naruto save Sasuke and help Sasuke defeat Madara. Otherwise, how had Naruto gotten the raven?

Black eyes closed for a second before the man-turned-boy walked over to the unconscious and rather foolish three years old. Who in their right mind would think that their toddler body could handle such powerful techniques or even had the chakra capacity to use them safely? Itachi shook his head as he wiped blood off his cheek, one of the numerous shallow cuts the exploding rasengan had created. Turning Naruto over revealed that the child had even more shallow cuts all over her body. Apparently they were going to have to visit the hospital before he could get any more information out of the child.

AUAU

Naruto woke in the hospital some days later, alone. What had happened? Blue eyes widened as the memories of meeting Itachi surfaced. When that Uchiha showed back up Naruto had a lot of questions! How did the man get a raven in his gut when Naruto had been out traveling with Jiraiya? How did he make it so the raven had his memories and knowledge in it? What was he going to do now?

Naruto looked over the bare white room with a sigh. He really needed to stop ending up here. He needed to go find Sasuke and make sure he wasn't such a bastard this time around while also making sure he didn't leave.

The door opened with a quiet swoosh. Itachi entered as quietly. "Naoko-chan." greeted the chibi Itachi as he closed the door. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the name as Itachi pulled a piece of paper out and, unfolding it, stuck it to the door with a small amount of chakra. A seal gleamed in red ink on the paper.

"It is a portable privacy seal. No one outside this room, even with the windows open, will be able to hear anything. The Hokage's tower is covered in more powerful and permanent versions. Sadly these portable ones are only usable once."

Naruto slowly nodded as he regarded the seal. It was just a bunch of swirls but it seemed really handy.

"Now Naoko-chan you were about to explain to me what has happened and how we are in the past with myself in my younger body and you in some little girl's body while the Naruto in this world is dead."

"Well, why don't you explain how I had a raven in me that belonged to you!"

Itachi frowned as he sat in the only chair in the room. "That is unimportant Naoko-chan."

"I'm Naruto."

"Naoko is your name now and I can't see you being able to somehow transfer back into your past's body when it has been cremated."

The little girl sighed at that. Sometimes the rather new practice, at this time, of cremating the dead to protect the village and clan secrets was rather bothersome. "We're back in the past because... Why does it matter? We're stuck here!"

Itachi stared blankly back. "Do you remember how this happened Naoko-chan?"

Naruto frowned and looked out the window. What did he remember about how he had gotten there? He could remember the dream with his Otou-san, Tou-chan, and Inari-sama. He clearly remembered that entire night in the hospital, burning down the old orphanage, Saru and Buta. He could remember the horror of finding out he was a girl. He could remember the alleyway where he had awoken, though it was somewhat vague now. He couldn't remember before that though! There were butterflies. He was certain there had been butterflies where ever he had been but beyond that nothing.

"Naoko-chan?"

Naruto looked back at Itachi, uncertainty bubbling up from her chest. "I don't remember how, just butterflies. The last thing I remember before waking up in the past was butterflies and being in Tani no Kuni with Jiraiya on our trip. We had a couple more months before we had to get back to Konohaâ€¦ I should remember more, shouldn't I?"

Itachi nodded after a moment. "I can't remember it anymore but when I first awoke, and let's just call it that, I could remember giving you the raven. That was many months after you had returned to Konoha. I only know I had remembered that because after hearing you indicate that you had not fought me since you were twelve even though I remember differently, I choose to write down my newest memory and that had been the raven being forced down your throat."

Blue eyes closed as the full implications settled onto his shoulders. "We're forgetting aren't we?"

"Aa, it will not be long before we have no solid memories of our past's future. It is not as if that will help us this time around, anyways."

"Our memories would have given us heads up on all these things we could change for the better!"

"But Naoko-chan the future is different already."

Naruto glared up at the boy, "How so? I haven't done anything to change it!"

"Naruto is dead. You exist. The Kyuubi is not within our protective walls. Madara can get it easier this time. Konoha doesn't have a Jinchuuriki this time around. You are a girl. All of these aspects will change the outcome of many events. You will not be placed on the same genin team. You will not be scorned. You will be loved; more so once your parentage comes out. Many things will change."

Naruto stared wide eyed at the Uchiha. "No...NO. I'll still be on the same team! I'll just be the dead last again! And we don't have to worry about the Kyuubi it's in Inari-sama's grasp. Madara won't be able to get it away from Inari-sama."

Itachi's eyes sharpened at that. "Inari-sama? What do you know about how you got here Naoko-chan?"

The little girl bowed her head before finally saying. "I had a dream where Inari-sama explained that he gave me this new body as thanks for releasing the Kyuubi where he could get it. The dream had Tou-chan and Otou-san too. They-"

"Who are Tou-chan and Otou-san?"

Naruto looked up, startled. "Namikaze Minato and Senju Tobirama! They're my Tou-chan and Otou-san. Anyways Tou-chan explained to me that the Kyuubi is connected to all the Kyuubi's in all the different worlds and when Inari-sama got a hold of one of the Kyuubis it yanked all the Kyuubis back to him. That killed the Naruto in this world and I guess all the other worlds that had the Kyuubi sealed in Naruto's. So this Madara won't be able to get to the nine tails. I had the dream before I read the DNA test. It wasn't just a dream."

"hn," muttered Itachi in agreement, seemingly beginning the Uchiha's infamous non-silence.

Naruto nodded before looking up with a glare. "I will have the same team as last time!"

Itachi blinked at the sudden jump in topic before shaking his head and thinking back over what Naruto had said about this earlier. "You won't Naoko-chan. You-"

"I will too! Just see, all I have to do is be lazy and stay dead last!"

Itachi shook his head. "That won't work. You're a girl Naoko. All genin teams have only one girl on it. There are simply too few females for there to be a team with two girls on it. If you want to get on the same team as my brother then you will have to best the pink haired girl on your team for the position."

A pained expression flickered across the little girl's face before it settled with determination. "Then I'll take the position from Sakura. She'll be alright on a different team!" Naruto turned to Itachi. "You're going to help me train then. I have to be the top kunoichi in my year to get the spot."

Itachi sat back at the order. Thinking it over the dark hair boy slowly responded. "I can help but it's going to be complicated. I don't know if it's only because you remember now or if it will still affect you after you lose your memories but we're going to have to fight your body's reaction to fight like you had done as Naruto. It going to be difficult and rather frustrating Naoko-chan."

"What do you mean? You just need to help me with getting my body back into shape and fixing whatever is wrong with my chakra to make me faint like earlier," scowled Naruto, folding his arms across his small chest.

The Uchiha shook his head. "You need to remember that you're a girl and you don't have the Kyuubi in you anymore. That means that your fighting style as Naruto will not work for you. You will not have the sturdy and strong body you had as Naruto. You will not be able to rely on the Kyuubi to heal your body from all the hits you stupidly took as Naruto. You will not have the same amount of chakra as you don't have the Kyuubi's chakra being cleansed and put into your own.

You do have a rather large amount of chakra for a three year old. Normally three year old girls don't have enough chakra to even use at this stage of life. Very few boys have enough either. It is amazing you have enough for a kage bunshin and the rasengan. It was also extremely dangerous what you did earlier. Your body is not developed far enough to be able to handle the influx of active chakra in your coils. You're going to have to train your body first on becoming comfortable with large masses of chakra flowing through it. Then there's training to use the chakra, chakra control, and you'll have to expand your chakra levels. This isn't going to be easy Naoko-chan."

Naruto gapped at Itachi. "I-I never had to do half that stuff! I just had to do some chakra control. What are you talking about with all this?"

Itachi stared at the little girl. "You never had to help your chakra coils expand to be able to use your chakra properly?" At Naruto's shake of his head, Itachi leaned forward and regard Naruto curiously. "It could be that your coils were being flexed and expanded because of the Kyuubi's chakra being cleansed and integrated into your own. You never did any chakra activities during the first couple of years in the academy? It's why you don't learn about chakra techniques till the last two years. You're training your coils to be able to accept the flow of chakra."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Why do you need to do that? Your body is made so you can use chakra!"

"No it is not. Well, not really. Chakra coils must be flexed and stretched like muscles. The more you train it the better they are, the stronger they become. The coils are stretched and flexed to get bigger, and the bigger they become the more chakra you can access safely at one time. These training techniques are the basses for chakra control and expansion training. This also is part of the first step in learning how to hide your chakra from enemy shinobi. Shinobi from clans have an advantage in having their coils more readily capable to accept the strain of the stretching and mass use of chakra. That is one of the many reasons clans are the more prominent shinobi within the hidden villages. It becomes a part of your genetic capacity."

"Oh." Naruto glanced outside before looking back at the chibi Itachi. "How long do I have to stay here?"

"A couple more days I believe. I know that your caretaker Akiko stops by around three everyday to see how you're doing."

The three year old pouted at that. "Why am I even in here?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Chakra exhaustion. Though everyone believes that you unconsciously tried to protect yourself from one of my techniques that I had been working on when you stumbled into my training grounds."

"Oh." Naruto blinked at that. He had never had chakra exhaustion before. "Can you tell me the first step I need to do to start training my coils? Can I do that here?"

"You can." Uchiha Itachi rose to his feet and walked to the door. Turning around to regard the little girl, he explained in one word. "Meditate." And with that the future mass murderer and Akatsuki member ripped the seal off the door and strolled out the room, leaving behind a flustered child.

AUAU

The influx of air fluttered soft white strands of hair as nature continued to calm the still figure. It had been two weeks since Naoko had begun her training. It had been two weeks since she had properly claimed the large window in the play room as her meditating spot. She had finally been able to keep herself perfectly still for a good twenty minutes as of yesterday. Physically still, that is.

Naoko could feel something around her when she meditated, always moving and shifting like wind but it didn't play with things as wind did. This thing was more of a silent, continuous figure standing just out of her reach. She didn't know what it could be, but somehow Naoko knew it wasn't part of meditating.

She hadn't seen Itachi since the hospital room. Naoko hadn't had the chance to do anything about it. Whenever she had been allowed outside to play there had always been a caretaker carefully keeping an eye out for her. The few times the little girl had been able to escape had led to her being "caught" by good meaning shinobi and kunoichi that just happened to be nearby. Of course it couldn't be that they were her hidden guards, especially since two had been Buta and Saru. The others probably were the other ANBU that knew her real identity.

Naoko sighed as she pushed the thoughts away and focused on the world around her, not the noise of all the children but the quiet nature of the world. This stillness she had come to learn was strangely familiar. It was almost frighteningly endless. She could get lost in the strange figure if she ever dared reach out to it.

"NAOKO-CHAN!"

Blue eyes flew open as the little three-year-old nearly jumped out of her skin. Turning, after a moment to calm her nerves, Naruto looked up at Yuki. The five year old grinned down at her. "Guess what Naoko-chan!"

Naruto forced his eye from twitching. "What?"

"It's the second Friday of the month!"

Blue eyes stared blankly. "So?"

Yuki's grin stretched widely across her face. "Soooooooo, this is the day that we could be adopted silly!"

Naoko stilled in horror at that. "When are the adults coming?"

Yuki blinked over at her, "After lunch. It's going to be awesome!"

Naruto nodded slowly, no longer listening to the gushing girl. He had to get out of here now.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Distant Storms

Naoko shifted from foot to foot as she watched Akiko look over all the children to make sure they were at least presentable. He needed to get out. Naruto was not going to allow himself be adopted. Not now. Not ever. He-She had parents. She knew them and she didn't need some random citizen family adopting hi-her. Who knew if they would allow himher to enter the shinobi academy. Naoko didn't need to find out, but how was she going to get out of here? Naruto scowled slightly as he-SHE tried to properly address him... herself in his â€" her head. Naruto shook his head lightly. He needed to focus. No, SHE needed to focus. Dammit, why did Inari-sama have to make him a girl?

After a moment to center himself blues eyes flickered over the playroom before settling on the arts and crafts area. There.

"Now everyone be on your best behavior. The adults are coming in a few minutes so go and play nicely, and be nice to them when they come over to you," Ordered Hayashi-san. Naruto watched as the orphanage head left soon after. They wanted them to act like the perfect little children. He will do the opposite. A small smirk flickered across his face as he walked over to the crafts corner. Pulling out paper, crayons, and paints Naoko began carefully creating a very orange frog.

Soon enough the-would-be parents seemed to swarm into the room, and the majority immediately searched out the younger orphans. Naruto glanced at the couple that settled down beside him. Jerks. The older kids would also like to be adopted. Well, no mercy for them then.

AUAU

The Sandaime stared blankly at his ANBU. This could not be happening. Tsunade... The elder sighed before looking back at the team he had sent to collect his wayward student. Their bandaged forms told the story for them but a report was required. "Report and then go to the hospital."

"Hai. Hokage-sama, we headed out as ordered at 0700 on October 11th to find, retrieve, and explain the situation to Senju Tsunade. On November 7th we came in contact with the target. Said contact lasted ten minutes in which we revealed ourselves to the target and was attack on sight. Saru was able to inform Senju Tsunade of your desire for her immediate return but none were able to explain to her the reason before being attacked and knocked out."

The third sighed. Sometimes he wished that his students weren't so stubborn. It was neither the time nor place for this. Tsunade was the only person that could really protect and care for Naoko without the council and his advisors trying to take control of the poor girl.

The Hokage looked down at the reports coming in from the north eastern border. In the end this had been the only chance he had to get Tsunade here any time soon. There was growing animosity with Kaminari no Kuni. The Raikage had taken an open interest in Konoha's Hyuuga clan. ANBU were needed in case of another war breaking out. He could not explain away an elite ANBU team being used to try and bring back a reluctant Tsunade when the council knew as well as him how impossible it would be.

"Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back in his plush chair and sighed as he messaged his head, a headache coming on. Right now Naoko was safely hidden amongst the civilians, and he had a possible war to figure a way out of. He could not focus on one girl, no matter how important a future figurehead she could and would become for Konoha.

A soft knock announced his secretary and, he glanced at the time, his punctual advisors. The Hokage straightened his robes for a second before calling, "Enter." The old man watched as Danzo and his two genin teammates entered. His secretary appeared with refreshments a moment later.

The third regarded Shimura as Utatane prepared the tea. His old friend was headstrong, but, in a way, the man had Konohagakure's best interests in mind, though convoluted as they might be. In the last couple of years, since Orochimaru had defected or maybe even earlier when the Kyuubi attacked, the man had become almost obsessive in his need to protect the physical structure of Konoha. Sarutobi feared that his old friend had forgotten that Konoha was not buildings and monuments but the people that lived there.

Quietly, Homura interrupted the Hokage's thoughts as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Hokage-sama I must request, once more, that you inform us of the whereabouts of Namikaze Minato's and Senju Tobirama's daughter. Her protection is paramount for a prosperous Konoha in the future. She would give many the needed drives to better themselves and become greater than ever before." Hiruzen sighed softly as he turned his eyes to his closest comrade in arms. How many battles have they been through together? Two whole wars they stood at each other's sides but now the Hokage could feel a distance growing, one that had begun when he denied any attempt for weaponizing Uzumaki Naruto.

Had he truly lost his friends and advisors down differing paths? The three before him seemed to be like minded enough; perhaps he was the one that had gotten lost. Mentally shaking off his uncomfortable thoughts, the Hokage replied. "I have informed you that she is safe and hidden. She will not be formally introduced until she is capable of defending herself from our enemies and the enemies of her parentage. We are not here to discuss her."

"Be that as it may, Hokage-sama, she needs to be trained by the best. She needs to be raised as the heir to two powerful clans properly. You cannot hide her and leave her to become some weak citizen! She needs to be raised as a proper, young woman. Are you going to even keep her from the female classes? What about the academy?" Cried out Utatane as she finished dishing out the tea. "Will you truly treat our sensei's daughter so terribly?"

Hiruzen's jaw clenched at the end. Was this wrong? Should he let her be openly cared for? Would Sensei... "Do not talk to me like that Utatane! Sensei would want her hidden and safe with the lack of family present to care for her. She will learn what she needs to; do not worry yourself over such. Everything will be fine. No one knows where she is but me. None of the enemies will be able to find her but she will not be ostracized or mistreated as her brother had been. Now-"

Danzo interrupted smoothly. "Is she safe from inner threats? You are aware that Uzumaki Naruto was killed inside these walls. The Uchiha, as the police force, should have been able to protect the boy and yet he was not safe in the end, Hokage-sama. If only you had given him to me, had listened to reason then..."

"Danzo enough of that nonsense-"

"The Uchiha were not there when we needed them with the Kyuubi! Tobirama had the right idea of not trusting them. He segregated them from the rest through the creation of the Police force. You know this! Is she safe?"

The Hokage's face tightened and the air became cold. "I will not have such accusations made about one of the most prestigious of our clans, especially a founding one. Even though you were not able to have a single Uchiha enter ROOT back during the second Great War does not mean they were not nor are not loyal to this village. End this nonsense; you know that it is simply a rumor that they were not there fighting alongside us against the Kyuubi. Your teammate fought at your side during it all."

The room fell silent for a few minutes as the words seemed to vibrate over them. It was an old argument but in the advisors' mind an important one. The Senju Clan had been prominent in the four shinobis' training. The clan's ideals and ideas had rubbed off them all but, as Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen struggled to keep an impartial opinion in regards to the Uchiha clan. This was one topic his advisors have never won. He could not have them color his eyes after years of internal struggle to rid himself of his own prejudice against the clan.

"I called you here because there is evidence of Kaminari no Kuni's Damiyo desiring to expand his territory and that the Raikage wishing to have the Byakugan. There have been increased reports in the northeastern border of confrontations with Kumogakure no sato shinobi. As we are aware, Tsune no Kuni, being right below lightening country, has allied itself with them and are not a threat to Kumo. The only land that separates us from invasion is the war torn land of Whirlpool. As that country is no more, no Damiyo and no shinobi village, there is little but unfertile landscape to cross into Hi no Kuni."

"Whirlpool would be best used as a war zone once again; there would be little collateral damage. Cloud will not enter our country," Said Danzo firmly before taking a sip of tea.

The third nodded in agreement before continuing, "We will have ANBU watch the border. They are our first force against any attacks from Kumo. The regular shinobi will take on more of the upper ranked missions if need be."

"Will we begin preparations for war?" asked Koharu delicately as she refilled all the tea cups around the room. "Raise the surplus of supplies? Boost our ChÅ«nin ranks?"

"I believe that we are fine now in regards to subordinates. We should not raise ranks on shinobi we all know are not prepared to become ChÅ«nin or JÅ nin. In six months if there is clear signs of war coming the ANBU will recruit. As of right now, these are simply rumors. A few added confrontations at the border speaks little of what may be. This should not be a large war, if a war at all. We do not want nor, I fear, will be able to survive a full out war against Kumo. Diplomacy is the best route. But our surplus supplies will be raised. The abandoned supply caches need to be reused. ChÅ«nin will be sent to make sure their structures are sound and supplies will be stockpiled."

"That would be advantageous for us. The rumors were proven true in the Third Great War with them having the eight tails in their ranks," Agreed Homura grimly.

"And we do not know what happened to the two tails after Whirlpool fell. That Jinchuuriki should have come to us, its allies," Added Danzo.

Hiruzen sighed, "We cannot be certain of anything in regards to him. He most likely died defending his home."

"Lightening were the ones that destroyed Whirlpool," Murmured Koharu. "It would have been foolish to kill a Jinchuuriki when you could claim the demon for your own village."

Danzo said in agreement, "We should assume that Kumo possesses the two tails also, though it wouldn't be old enough to fight full out yet. In six months if war appears likely we need to move to full war preparations, increasing the ANBU is only part of what we must do, especially with the possibility of confrontations against Jinchuurikis."

"Indeed. We will have to increase the numbers at the academy and speed up the curriculum." Stated Homura as he pushed his glasses up.

The Sandaime frowned, "We have just now decreased the academy to a post war timetable."

"But if there is war, Hokage-sama?" said Utatane.

Sarutobi hummed before responding. "If there is war, we have a quality force to fight against it." The kage leaned back in thought for a moment. "The curriculum will be increased to a half war time timetable. We will not have five-year-olds going to the front lines again. The parents will have the right to decide when to enter their children into the academy; we need not have three and four year-olds amongst the five and six year-olds. And the parents will have a say in any possible early graduation."

"But for the orphanages, we will take any children of three and older into the academy that is recommended by the caretakers and who have potential. They will be placed on a full war time schedule. This is possible war, after all," Countered Danzo.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "In six months." This was possible war. He could only protect the children that had protectors aiding him in his endeavor. He had six months to stop any war from occurring.

"In six months," Agreed his advisors as they moved to the door.

"Should we not call a council meeting to discuss this matter?" asked Danzo as the secretary moved in to collect the tea and plates. The third sighed before nodding. Here he had hoped to get a few moments to relax and take care of his headache.

"The meeting will be held in an hour, inform the clan heads Tori-san," Ordered the Hokage as he pulled a stack of papers towards him. His secretary muttered a confirmation, her eyes flicking to the advisors, before leaving him.

AUAU

Black eyes followed the faintly cute motions of the three year old boy in the back garden. The child hadn't noticed him through the window yet. If he had, the little boy would not be calmly helping his mother water the flowers. He would have been demanding training. A fist tightened. He was too young to train. Near identical black eyes looked up and met his own.

"NII-SAN!" Came a cute cry. An image of the same boy filtered over Itachi's eyes. The boy was older and his eyes were filled with hate and a touch of insanity. Itachi turned sharply away from his little brother. His face went blank as he quickly moved towards the entrance of his family's home, images flickering in and out of blood splattered walls.

"Itachi, back from your mission already?" Asked Uchiha Mikoto as she followed after her older son.

"Hai," Muttered Itachi almost hesitantly as he felt a smaller body collide against the back of his legs.

"Train me Nii-san!"

"Now Sasuke-kun, your brother just got back from his first mission as a Chunin. Let him relax," Abolished Uchiha Mikoto, their mother. "Would you like some tea dear?"

Itachi glanced at his mother; his mind continued playing tricks with superimposing the image of her dead eyes and blue-white skin over the living figure before him.

"Dinner will be ready in a few hours; you will be staying for it. Now come along, you look dreadful. Tea will help you relax." Itachi gritted his teeth but silently followed his mother into their dining area. Sitting, the ten year-old tried everything he could think of to ignore the flicker of memories of things yet to occur but they were too strong a focus for him now.

He killed them in here. Black eyes glazed over as the memory took hold. Sasuke found him standing over their dead bodies in here. Otou-san had moved forward in surprise but determination. He moved to protect Kaa-san. The shock and accusation in their black eyes as life fled them.

"-ii-san will you train me tomorro'?"

The future mass murderer jerked his head towards his little brother. Black eyes met black. "Iie."

"Now Itachi you don't have any missions tomorrow and every since you've become a ChÅ«nin you haven't had any time with us. I think it would be nice to have you stay and show Sasuke a few pointers about throwing kunai or something." Said Mikoto, reminding Itachi where he was.

"Kaa-san I have things I have to do tomorrow." He couldn't be near them. He couldn't look at them without remembering how he had killed them or how he forced Sasuke into insanity. Itachi couldn't be near them still, not when he knew he would have to kill them all over again. This time Sasuke too, now that he knew of the threat his little brother would become. A threat unsaveable by even the kindest of hearts if Naruto being thrown into the past indicated anything.

"Itachi couldn't you postpone whatever it is? We really haven't seen you in forever it seems," Frowned Mikoto. Itachi closed his eyes from the pleading looks from his family. It hurt far too much to look at them. Fate was such a cruel creature.

"I-"

"Mikoto you know Itachi has responsibilities now." Uchiha Fugaku interrupted as he entered the cozy dining room. "How was your first mission as a ChÅ«nin, son?"

"Fine, sir." Itachi rose, "I need to meet with my team for the debriefing. Excuse me."

"Itachi-kun!" The head family turned nearly as one at the interruption. Uchiha Shisui smiled sheepishly back at them. "Forgive me Mikoto-san, Ahâ€¦ ummâ€¦ Fugaku-sama I hadn't realizedâ€¦ I had thought you'd be at the council meeting. I-uh-I'll make sure to knock next time, forgive me." The young man backed out of the room. "I'll talk to you later Itachi-kun." With a quick bow the young man bolted.

The head of the Uchiha clan frowned after one of his more skilled subordinates and kin. "A council meeting, why hadn't I been informed?" After a pause Fugaku sighed before waving his older son out, "You would think that such a skilled shinobi would be capable of common manners."

Mikoto simply smiled in agreement before shouting out after her son's back, "I'll expect you for dinner, dear!"

Uchiha Itachi forcefully stopped himself from flinching. Hopefully he'll be able to "forget" when dinner was.

AUAU

Uzumaki Naruto grinned as he slipped through the basement window. It had taken a good hour for him to find a way to reach it with how short he was but he was free now. The little white haired girl glanced around quickly before bolting across the street into a nearby and vaguely familiar alleyway. It was one of numerous alleyways he had once traversed in his past life. It had been one of his favorite escape routes after any of his pranks down in the major shopping district were unleashed. A smiled fluttered across his face. It brought back some amazing memories.

Reaching the end of the alleyway, the little three year old paused to look around. She didn't see anyone that looked even remotely like one of her secret semi-reoccurring guards. It was bound to happen sooner or later, they weren't officially her guards and couldn't be seen hanging around one place very often especially with most of them being part of the ANBU. But it still was sort of surprising and even disappointing not spying them looking for her. Where was the thrill of escape when there was really no one to challenge her?

"Naoko-chan?"

Naruto jumped and twirled around, the once very cute dress Akiko had forced onto him tried to flare out prettily around the three year old but the dried paint that had gotten on it weighed most of the material down. Standing before her, a little farther into the alleyway was Uchiha Itachi.

"Itachi-kun." Naruto greeted with a wide sheepish grin. "I haven't seen you in what, two weeks?"

"hn." Itachi glanced over her. She was covered in paint and was positioned in a haphazard taijutsu stance. The ten year old and three year old stood staring at each other in silence for a few moments, neither sure what to do now. Naoko hadn't been searching for him and Itachi had simply been looking to escape a more than difficult situation with family that he had and would kill.

"The paint?" Itachi asked finally for lack of anything better to say.

"It was the annual Adopt-A-Kid Friday." Naruto stated as an explanation.

"hn."

Blue eyes shifted from the dark haired boy. "You said you would help me train."

"I did."

Naoko sighed in frustration. "Well you're here now and I'm not doing anything soâ€¦"

"hn."

The blue eyed child frowned at the unresponsive boy. "Fine." The little girl turned to leave before pausing and turning back to the boy that was an ally but an enemy and neither all at once. "I've been trying to mediate." She paused to see if Itachi would say anything. He didn't. "Well I can stay still for a good twenty minutes now and I can feel the weird energy thing around us but I don't know what I have to do. What's the next step?"

Itachi frowned at her, "You should be finding energy within you not outside of you."

Naoko blinked up at him. "Oh. I haven't tried looking in me I thought mediation was a way to get rid of any self-centered thoughts and still your body."

The black haired boy sighed. Sometimes you just have to wonder about this kid. "Come on we're going to the training grounds from last time."

Naoko nodded and quickly followed. There Itachi had her meditate with him guiding her with his calming voice. With his help she quickly found her chakra and while still mediating Itachi guided her in how to slowly draw small amounts of it from her core and draw it slowly through her coils to her right hand. "That is what you need to do now. Pull small increments of chakra to different parts of your body. Slowly you will be able to expand the amount of chakra you are drawing. After a certain point you don't have to do this technique any longer, though it does help considerably in expanding the amount of techniques you would be able to learn sooner. Will you know when you have enough chakra being pulled to create a henge safely, Naoko-chan?"

The little girl blinked in surprise at the sudden question, losing the tiny amount of chakra she had cupped in her palm. After a moment of thought Naruto realized that yes he could estimate the amount he would need and he needed so much more than what he could pull. "Yes."

"Good."

After a moment Naoko asked, "How was I able to create the kage bunshin and rasengan when I shouldn't have been able to pull all that chakra out?"

Itachi shrugged, "You shouldn't have but it's not like you realized that and sometime people can do things that are just mind bogging when they don't know they should not be able to do it. You did stuff like that all the time. Now I want to see what you can do without chakra."

AUAU

The thunk, thunk, thunk of weapons hitting wooded posts filled the training grounds. It had surprisingly become habit for the little white haired girl to find a way to this training field. No one ever came by here, it was Uchiha grounds and more specifically it was Uchiha Itachi's training field. No one wanted to bother the ten year old, especially if his father found out about it. The Uchiha heir's budding shinobi career was a very important thing to the clan head. So the place was avoided by everyone whenever possible.

It made for an amazing hiding place because of that. Of course with the growing animosity between Hi no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni she never saw her unofficial ANBU guards around. She had heard that many of the ANBU were out by the borders watching for cloud shinobi. Apparently that was why all the ChÅ«nin were being run to the ground with missions.

Itachi was rarely around because of that but after he had helped her properly find her chakra he had her go through all the skills she knew that didn't involve the manipulation of chakra. Itachi had determined that she actually could keep most of her skills in regards to kunai and shuriken throwing. That led to the realization that she was going to have to focus hard on keeping the skills she had from the past life, they both were, because it was fading right along with their memories.

That was why she was focusing so much on throwing the kunai and shuriken Itachi had given her. Naoko would be damned if she had to relearn how to throw these things. She was going to force her mind and muscles into remembering this motion if it was the last thing she did. That didn't mean the child ignored the second part of her chakra training, though. She was constantly, though carefully, pulling chakra through her coils to different parts of her body. It was a strange feeling, the slow trickle of chakra and the odd stretching feel of her coils as the chakra was forcedly but slowly pulled through the tiny tubs. She was making progress. Naoko could safely pull a little more than half the amount of chakra she needed to create a Kage Bunshin the size of her as a sixteen year old Naruto. It was progress, and apparently extremely good progress.

Naoko smiled as she let free the last of her kunai. She could throw them well; all of them hit the target in a reasonable area spread but she still seemed to almost forget her hand placement or when to release the projectile. It was a work in progress. The little girl rose from her stance and taking a deep breath she carefully sank into herself until she reached her core. There the little girl pulled some chakra out and carefully directed it into her arm coils. She followed its path as the chakra flowed almost uninhibited up to her hands. The areas of her coils that were not large enough to allow the easy passage of the chakra was carefully stretched as she slowly pushed and pulled the chakra through the tight spot that had nearly forced it to a stop. Once she had all the chakra through those areas she again let go of it and watched as the chakra freely zoomed up the rest of the way to her hands. As the chakra reached the end the little girl released her breath and positioned her hand into a cross. "Kage Bunshin."

The sound of displaced air spoke of her success and Naoko opened her eyes with a wide smile before turning to look. There standing to her right was a perfect replication of herself. The little girl jumped up and swung her fist into the air in celebration. She could create a three year old sized kage bunshin.

Turning to her left Naoko's smile fell and annoyance flickered across her face. A half dead, malformed kage bunshin stood slumped over before her. She still needed to stretch her coils, than. With a huff the child dispelled that one and turned to her properly formed clone. "Let's fight!"

With that yell the two children exploded at each other, and attacked with fists and legs. Within moments it became a full out brawl. One of the white haired girls tackled the other. She happily smacked the downed girl over and over before she was kicked off and tackled herself. In turn the second white haired child punched her in the stomach multiple times. It continued like that until the more vicious of the two grabbed the others longish hair and pulled.

"Naoko!" The child that was pulling the hair gave a slight yeeping sound as she was dispelled into smoke from a flying projectile. The one that was left looked up at her savior and cringed. Sharingan eyes blazed back at her. "What have I told you about trying to keep your knowledge about Naruto's lack of taijutsu skills?"

The little girl pouted at the Uchiha as she replied with a frustrated, "Don't."

"What were you doing?"

"Taijutsu."

"Naoko-chan." Itachi sighed in frustration. "That was not taijutsu. That was some foolish drunkards brawling with no understanding of the discipline involved in taijutsu. Is that what you want to be seen as?"

"No but-"

"There isn't any but about it!" The boy turned away, rubbing his brow with a sigh. "It has been a long week, Naoko-chan. Do not make it worse by claiming that Naruto actually knew what he was doing."

The girl frowned up at him, "He did beat a large number of people."

Itachi regarded Naoko for a moment before formulating a response. "You do realize that it was because of his stamina, the Kyuubi healing all the broken bones and cuts he got right after getting them, and his high chakra capacity that allowed him to slowly win each of those fights? He simply kept going until the enemy was too worn out to win."

Naoko sighed at that. "I guess." The little girl pulled her hair out of her face as she went to her kunai and shuriken. Pulling out one of the kunai, Naoko stared down at the commonly blunt blade. "It has been weeks since I've seen you Itachi. You don't look so good."

"Two months of non-stop missions does that to people." Naoko regarded the older boy. For some strange reason Naoko was almost certain that Itachi didn't talk all that much to other people. She had become his confidant, sort of. Not really. He didn't tell her anything about himself that she didn't already know since after the whole massacre conversation. But he did talk. Naruto couldn't see how Sasuke could have ever had conversations like this. All her remarks or questions would have been answered with an hn.

"You know the one thing that brawl reminded me of?" Naoko asked as she looked back down at the kunai. A memory of a little pink haired girl in the forest of death fighting Oto-ninâ€¦ Pink hair falling to the ground flickered over her minds eyes. "Girls who don't have amazing skill and who have to fight close up shouldn't grow their hair out."

Itachi watched silently as the little white haired child hacked her hair off at the ears. Silvery, white strands floated towards the ground. The red of the Sharingan flared into Itachi's eyes as he watch the strands flicker and shift. "Naoko!" Itachi breathed as the hair changed into little blue and white butterflies that each had a single spot of orange on their back wings, like eyes.

The little girl turned around and followed Itachi's eyes to the butterflies as they fluttered around in the air almost lazily. She was able to see the last of her strands change, though for the couple hundred thousand strands of hair she cut only twenty or so butterflies materialized. Naoko stared down at them before hesitantly reaching out. One of the butterflies landed happily onto her hand.

The butterfly fluttered its wings for a moment before folding them. The bug then walked slowly up her hand and into it. Blue eyes stared in shock as the butterfly seemed to sink into her hand until it looked like a realistic tattoo moving up her hand, to her wrist. Once it came to her arm the butterfly faded away, leaving no indication that it had ever been there.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Jaded Leaves Gleaming

Saru dived to the side. A kunai slammed into the tree. Blood dripped from the monkey mask. It had been such a lovely day when he had woken up but they just had to decide to instigate a war after lunch. The ANBU tilted his head. Only the rustling of leaves met his ears for a few seconds. Broken sounds of distant battles snuck in between the laughing trees. Where did she go?

Black eyes peaked through the eye holes of the monkey mask. A deep breath brought the taste of iron and smoke. Pushing his feet deeper into the mud, the ANBU pushed his chakra into the ground and had it spread. A technique he had used and mastered enough to no longer need hand seals.

There.

A female jumped high from behind one of the trees. The earth followed her upwards in a pointed spike. She flipped. Her feet slapped onto the back of a tree branch. With a push, she propelled herself to the side. The earth spike smashed into the branch seconds later.

Kunai flew from her hands as she twisted towards Saru. Hands blurred. Words were whispered. Rumbling filled the air. The projectiles slammed harmlessly into an earth wall. The kunoichi used the obstructed view to rush towards the ANBU. Her hands flashed through seal forms. She slapped her hand into the wall, water sliced through it, revealing the ANBU behind. The woman smirked as her sharp water continued to slice through the figure. He crumbled into earth. A spike ended her life, shock ingrained permanently on her face. The symbol for the Cloud village gleamed on her suspended corpse.

Saru stepped out from behind a tree and shook his head at the corpse as he pulled a scroll out. "Couldn't you have chosen to attack tomorrow; it was supposed to be cold and misty." Unrolling the scroll Saru flicked the end of the paper at the far end of the corpse. Once it was layed across most of the body, he made a few hand seals and murmured, "Seal."

The scroll fell to the ground as smoke exploded out with a slight whoosh of displaced air. Picking the scroll up the monkey ANBU turned towards the closest battle sounds and vanished silently into the trees, leaving behind a bloody spike and used kunai as the only evidence of war.

AUAU

Pain shot through her as the lightening sparking hand slammed through her chest, just missing her heart. Unfocused blue eyes looked up into blood red sharingans. "Sasu-"

Jerking up with a gasp, Naoko stared out into the dorm room she shared with multiple other little girls. It was that nightmare again. She had been having it for the past couple of weeks. The little girl looked down at her hands. A tear drop hit them. Naoko could not remember the entire nightmare anymore. There was just pain but a part of her knew that it wasn't just a bad dream. It was memories. Her chest ached from the dreamed, remembered pain. Someone had tried to kill her. No, kill Naruto. She couldn't figure out why, though. Everything she could remember was about the academy. It was all about pranks and other children that were being so mean to him.

She pulled her night shirt up to look at her tummy. With a little pull of chakra the girl was able to draw up the broken seal. She knew Naruto had had the Kyuubi in there once upon a time. She even remembered checking it when first waking up in the alley way, back when Naruto was still prominently active in her. Like everyone in the village, Naoko had come to think of Naruto as her brother and her twin. She just happened to know him a lot better than people would think, though that wasn't going to last long, Naoko also knew the fact that they weren't truly siblings but the one and the same, soul wise at least.

The little girl shook her head, ridding herself of her silly thoughts. It didn't matter what was going on in her head. She was Naoko. She was Naruto. Who cared. With that Naoko's eyes suddenly got a gleam to them. What was she going to do today to be put into time out. The sooner it was done the better as it gave her more time to train and more time to figure out something, anything involving those strange butterflies her hair becomes when cut.

Three months, three whole months had gone by since cutting her hair and nothing had been figured out. It didn't help that she had her hair turning into bugs. Pretty bugs but bugs all the same. It made her feel like that creepy boy in Naruto's class. Abruame Shinito or something like that. Especially when the butterflies crawled back into to her. Naoko sighed before hopping out of bed. She might as well figure out something to get in trouble for.

AUAU

Uchiha Itachi regarded the animal masked figure standing before him. Trepidation flickered through the ten year old for but a moment before the sharingan user bowed in silent greeting. The white coated, mouse masked ANBU bowed back before stepping forward and handing the boy a small jade maple leaf. Itachi stared down at the gift. The first step to his pre-made future. The path of the ANBU awaited him. Looking up Itachi stared over his empty room as twilight's blue light glowed outside the window. After a moment longer Itachi turned the leaf over and stared at the familiar script carved across the back.

In the dark we protect. In the shadows we swear undieing loyalty to the leaf. By blood we leave behind personal identity and give our lives for home, family, and prosperity of Hi no Kuni.

Uchiha Itachi slid his thumb over the carving, feeling the cool bite of the stone a moment longer before nipping his other thumb, drawing blood. The sharingan flared to life as Uchiha Itachi squared his young shoulders and swiped his blood across the script. The word blood glowed. With a puff of displaced air the ten year old vanished into thin air.

In a unknown place, deep in the forest surrounding Konohagakure, the ten year old reappeared. With him nine other shinobi and kunoichi popped quietly into existence. Itachi glanced at the others but only recognized Shirakumo Hayama and Hijiri Shimon. He already knew that only five of the others would pass along side him. One would die. Shirakumo and Hijiri would become his temporary teammates during the month long training period he had ahead of him.

Itachi closed his eyes as exhaustion, someone his age should not feel, filled him temporarily. He would do his duty to Konoha as many times as he must, even if this was some terrible twist of fate where he was stuck in a time loop. He would protect his home. Black eyes opened to regard the pigeon masked ANBU captain before them, silver hair spiked up behind the mask with its gravity defying abilities. Memories of things yet to come would not destroy him nor deter him on the path that lay before Itachi.

He would become ANBU. He would go down the same path. And he would repeat all his mistakes, all his failures, and all his successes just so he would find himself slicing down his traitorous clan again. Itachi would not put such a burden on another. Even if it slowly destroyed him. Uchiha Itachi was already broken and insane. Repeating the same thing over again was proof enough of that but what must be done must be done. This time would be different though, Itachi would be the last Uchiha at the end.

"In the dark we protect. In the shadows we swear undieing loyalty to the leaf. By blood we leave behind personal identity and give our lives for home, family, and prosperity of Hi no Kuni." Whispered the Hato ANBU standing before them. "You have been chosen for the test that will determine whether or not you possess the commitment and loyalty Konohagakure no sato and Hi no Kuni demands of its weapons. If you succeed in this test you will become part of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai."

Silences filled the clearing as all the ANBU hopefuls stood nearly perfectly still. The Pigeon ANBU regarded them in the silence as it stretched into minutes. Finally the opposing figure stepped to the side and waved his hand to the neatly piled items behind him. "Gear up. I will be your captain for this mission and one of your proctors of the test." Another ANBU member shunshined into the clearing. "And Buta will be your other proctor for this test." Finished Pigeon.

Itachi moved swiftly over to the piles and glanced over them before finding the one with the jade maple leaf resting on top. The other piles had other types of jade leaves gleaming in the dawn light. Within the pile was a nondescript ANBU outfit. The mask was a blank white. Everything else was standard gear.

There was a scroll with mission details, though Itachi knew an important aspect of the mission information was missing. It was part of the test. It would prove who had the skill for the ANBU and who also had enough loyalty to the leaf village to forsake every humane and personal belief they possessed. Underneath it all was a single piece of paper with the words:

Squad: Pigeon

Code Name: Jaybird

Mission position: Center

Black eyes stared down at the words. He had forgotten about that. Putting him in the center marked him as someone to protect. The center was either a medic, genjutsu user, or a long range fighter. With his sharingan he was expected to be the genjutsu user in the team then.

"All ready?" Called Pigeon as he regarded all the nervous ANBU hopefuls standing in blank white masks. "Then lets head out, Points lead us towards Tsune no Kuni." A moment later the clearing was empty of any indication of its importance.

AUAU

The door slipped open with a soft swoosh. Bare feet lightly tapped the wood floor, somehow keeping any normal creaking from occurring. Slowly the small figure moved through the room, pausing for a moment at each bed. Blue eyes gleamed in the morning light as the child finished up with her latest prank. The boys would be waking up soon and they would regret it. A small smirk filter across the innocent face as the child tied the last string in place. Looking at her master piece for but a moment the child turned and quietly moved through the string work that ran through the room.

A soft groan came from one of the beds, making the little girl still and stare. A little boy slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes of sleep. The girl turned and bolted, somehow perfectly diving through the mess of string without touching any. Reaching the door the little girl threw it opened as the little boy got out of bed and triggered the trap. The girl glanced back with a grin as she ran through the door. Large pails of paint were in the process of falling onto all the boys and their beds. Screams filled the room.

The little girl ran into a solid barrier right outside the door. "Naoko!" Came a hissed response. Blue eyes flashed over to the side to find the orphanage head standing there glaring at her. Well crap. This was the first time she had been caught when she hadn't planned on it.

"That is a pretty good trap there kid." Naoko jerked her head up to find the barrier she had run into was a buff or maybe just fat ChÅ«nin shinobi with a trimmed goatee, if the green jacket was any indication. The ChÅ«nin looked over at Hayashi-san. "She one of the potentials?"

"Yes. This is an example of the things she's been doing that indicate her potential for the shinobi arts, Funeno-san."

The ChÅ«nin nodded before clapping a hand onto Naoko's shoulder. "Well, we'll go wait in the mess hall as you collect all the potentials then."

Naoko glanced back at Funeno as he lead her down to the mess hall. What was going on? Was this a normal procedure to see what children would be joining the academy once they were old enough? Why would they care about her right now though? She was only three.

The little girl stared wide eyed at the two other shinobi waiting in the mess hall. One was a lady with curly black hair and oval glasses. The other was clearly a Hyuuga, JÅ nin ranked most likely, though he was young.

"Daikoku-kun?" The kunoichi nodded at Naoko in question.

Funeno Daikoku grinned. "Hayashi-san and I caught her pranking the boys dorms. It was a rather complicated trap involving string and paint buckets. It could have been deadly if she had traded out the material for proper shinobi gear."

"Really? Hey sweetheart how old are you?" smiled the kunoichi as she pushed a strand of curly hair behind her ear, the last question directed at Naoko.

Naoko frowned at her, "I'm three."

"Huh." The woman frowned at her before looking up at Funeno. "Well she is in the age bracket we are supposed to be looking for."

Naoko narrowed her eyes at the woman, her frown deepening into a scowl. What was she on about? The kunoichi gave her a odd look, probably because of the expression Naoko was giving her. Little kids shouldn't give those types of expressions and mean it.

Hayashi Yumi walked in at that moment, followed by a line of boys and girls. Naoko regarded them all. All the boys were still covered in paint to the little girl's pleasure. The children varied from ages three to eight from Naoko's guess. There were about thirty seven of them. "Naoko get in line." Bit Hayashi-san. Naoko ran over to the end and found herself standing by Haruko, her fellow three-year-old girl.

Hayashi turned to the shinobi. "Here are the potentials as we have determined over the last month and a half since being informed of this." She looked over at the line of children. "State your name and age." The children quickly went down the line, each of them giving both their given last name and first name. Naoko wrinkled her nose at that. She had been given a last name by the orphanage but that didn't mean she cared for it.

Naoko pouted slightly as the line reached her. "Tano Naoko, three."

"Very well, you may leave Hayashi-san." Stated the Hyuuga quietly as he stepped forwards, his eyes sliding over the line of children. The orphanage head scowled and looked ready to protest but seemed to think better of it and fled the room. She was used to giving the orders around here.

Blue eyes stared at the man. He had long, dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail with two strands of his hair framing his face. The Konoha forehead protector covered his forehead. The Hyuuga clan needed to marry in some manly men, badly. Or maybe some burly women even. The Hyuuga before her was just too pretty to be fair to any potential girlfriend he ended up having. Vague images of other Hyuuga she knew crossed her mind, their names just at the tip of her tongue. She couldn't remember who were boys and girls. Naoko was almost certain that she had known some Hyuuga of both sexes. A Green seal on one of their foreheads flashed by before the little girl just shook her head and focused back on the shinobi before her.

The Hyuuga frowned blandly down at them, "I will do the first test. You all will stay where you are and do nothing." The young man formed a few hand seals almost lazily. He clearly thought this above him. Naoko scowled. "Byakugan." The skin around his eyes tightened and definition appeared in the colorless eyes, revealing the man's pupils.

These eyes of mine show me many things...people's limitations...unchangeable...Only a fool...become something...never be!

Naoko shook her head sharply. What? Where had that come from. The little girl glanced over at the Hyuuga, he was wondering down the line stating something to Funeno-san about each child, who than wrote it down.

His eyes sparked a memory. But she hadn't seen anything, just heard something. Naoko sighed. She had blanked out for a moment, more than enough time for someone to come and attack her. Small fists clenched. She couldn't control when those memories show up but hopefully she won't have it happen again, not when it was too dangerous for her or others.

The Hyuuga stepped up to her. "High level of chakra, unusually developed chakra coils." Interest filtered into the mans voice. "she would do well in one of the advanced classes if she is proficient in the basics." Funeno nodded and walked over to the kunoichi while writing the information down.

Naoko looked up into the Byakugan. The young man stared right back for a moment. A small smile of approval crossed the mans face when Naoko held his stare. "You will do well." Came the simple, quiet statement before the man turned and joined the other shinobi. It had almost come off as an order, in fact. But it had its affect. Naoko would do her best just to prove him right. Her small chest rose proudly. She stood straighter and smiled grimly, ready for what was coming her way.

The three shinobi quietly discussed the first test as all the children shifted around in their line. A bell rang out through the room, indicating that it was breakfast. The shinobi ignored it. So Naoko ignored her rumbling tummy.

Finally they separated and the female of the group stepped forward with the notes in her hand. "If I call your name you will be allowed to go to breakfast which I believe is being held in your respective playrooms today. The older children will take the younger ones to their playrooms before returning to their own. If it is found that you neglected this, Hayashi-san will be informed. Now, Fujimoto Akiko...Morita Hideo..."

Blue eyes watched as the line of children decreased to twenty eight. The kunoichi pushed her glasses up as the last child called exited the room. The sound of the door sliding shut filled the silent room. Funeno moved, revealing a pile of paper in his hands. The children watched as he placed a paper in front of each chair of the dining table nearest him, the one reserved for the caretakers and orphanage head.

The kunoichi hmmed, regaining all their attention. Naoko frowned, paper tests sucked. That was all there was to it. "When I call your name you will come forward, take a pencil, and seat yourself in the first available seat with a paper in front of it. You will not turn the paper over until you are told to." She looked down at her paper before marking something and looking up. "Tano Naoko."

Naoko jerked at the call. She had not expected to be called first. Quickly collecting herself, the little girl swiftly went to the Hyuuga who had a tin of pencils in his hand. Taking one, Naoko soon found herself seated at the head of the table with a foreboding white piece of paper seated before her. All she could think of was all the tests Naruto had taken. Ones where he had simply guessed at the answers. Others where he had not written anything. Some that he had written the right answer to only have it marked wrong. She fiddled with her pencil. Her hands growing sweaty.

She could not do this. Blue eyes stared at the white paper. Her face grew pale. There was a staple on the corner. Inari-sama really hated her, there was more than one page to this test.

A hand settled on the table near her. Blue eyes flew up to the person it belonged to. The Hyuuga stood, leaning slightly onto the table as he regarded all the children who were sitting before their tests. Naoko looked over at the other kids. Innocent, confused, and scared eyes stared back.

The Hyuuga spoke. "You will answer all the questions you can. Look through the entire packet. Once you are certain you cannot answer anymore of the questions, raise your hand. One of us will come to you, collect your paper, and then escort you to a playroom that you will stay in until we tell you otherwise. Kudo-san will stay with you and will take you to the restroom if it is needed. Now you may turn over the test and begin."

The little Senju flipped the paper over and carefully wrote her name across the top. Looking at the questions, the little girl stared. The entire first page was simply questions pertaining to how to write and read, what was the subject of the sentence, what was the action in the sentence, and so on. Naoko answered it quickly and easily. The next page was similar, but with longer passages to read and answer questions about. She could do this.

After the reading and writing section was complete, the test went onto mathematics. That was only the basics, too. Though Naoko wasn't sure she answered the last few correctly, she had never been very good a math. The next section was history. That was extremely easy. Mostly because it asked silly questions like who the Hokages were and their most noted skills. Though the question about who had been the Kyuubi container and when did the person die had shocked her. She had been hesitant to answer that one. What if she gave more information than most people knew? Naoko ended skipping that one. Call her paranoid but she was not going to answer that just in case.

After those Naoko was surprised to find questions that related more closely to shinobi matters. She answered some and left many blank. Naoko blushed as she stared at one question. She should know the answer but for the life of her she could not remember what the three jutsu's the academy taught students. In turn Naoko could easily remember the different mission ranks, though not what differentiated them. Most of the questions pertaining to chakra was extremely easy. If Naoko was honest with herself she might have been a little too detailed in that. Or a lot.

The last section involved questions pertaining to different specific jutsu's, shinobi organizations, departments, and all together classified things or just stuff children would not usually know. Naoko read through them all and felt some of it was familiar, like the question about the Sennin, but she didn't answer any of them. She couldn't. Naoko raised her hand and looked up to only blink when she found herself the only child left in the mess hall. Sitting across form her was the Hyuuga, the only other person in the room. He sat there with his arms folded across his chest, leaning the chair back on one leg. His relaxed posture was fraughted by the intensity of his stare.

His faintly purple tinted eyes gleamed with interest. Naoko blinked before she realized she still had her hand in the air. As it fell the Hyuuga settled his chair back to its up right position and claimed her test. "You will find Breakfast in the playroom. First one on the right once you leave." He nodded to the door. Food! Naoko flashed her thousand watt smile at the man before bolting out the door.

AUAU

After her brunch, as it was close to noon by the time Naoko had finished her test, she found herself being taken out to the academy. Most of the children from the test were also being taken there. She was the only three year old, though. Blue eyes had eaten everything as they bounced over the area on their walk to the academy.

She hadn't been down this path in ages or, technically, ever. Yet Naoko noticed some differences. There were some stores that she didn't recognize, some signs seemed newer, and some stores weren't there at all. In one area there was a empty lot where a really good dango shop had once and, Naoko guessed, would someday stand.

Once they were at the academy they were taken to the training area. Naoko watched as Funeno brought out a box, handles of what she guessed were practice kunai stuck out haphazardly. "Form a line." Called Funeno-san. Naoko found herself at the end where she couldn't see anything. She could guess what was happening and she had caught a glimpse of the Hyuuga and kunoichi standing up front with their note pads. Slowly the line shrank.

Naoko took the offered training kunai and watched the person before her throw the weapons badly but quickly at the target. The kid had treated them like one would throw a ball. Naoko cringed but stepped up and took up the position Itachi had helped drill into her head, one that was just ever so slightly different from the stance she, as Naruto, had known. Taking a breath and then slowly releasing it, the child then sent the blunt blades at the target in rapid succession. Her nerves quivered as she realized at the last minute that the practice kunai were way to light.

She looked up to see them all fly too far over the target. Naoko hadn't realized she had looked at the ground at the last instance. Itachi had been working with her to stop that. Naoko scowled lightly; she had forgotten about the difference between real kunai and the academy's training kunai. Or maybe she had actually never known. Naoko stared hard at the target. Naruto had known, so she had at one point too. She had just forgotten.

The kunoichi handed her note pad to Funeno before pushing her glasses up. "Alright everyone we're heading back to the academy. You will be seeing us tomorrow where we will be directing you to your assigned classes. Starting tomorrow you all are academy students and future shinobi of Konohagakure no sato. Congrats."

Naoko stared wide eyed at her. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised but she was only three! Three year olds had never been put into the academy during her life time. Except for... Naoko sucked in her breath. Except for when Konoha was at war.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Lives We Take

Morning light streamed through the window, highlighting floating dust in the academy room. Students of various ages and backgrounds sat in the rows of desks which were set in a miniature amphitheater style, each row being a step higher than the last. Similarly each row of children seemed to grow in height and age with the rise of steps. The differing ages of children did not change the universal nervousness the first day of school brings to all children, though.

Naoko shrank slightly into her chair. She could feel the eyes of her "peers" on the back of her head. She hadn't thought about what she was doing the other day. Naoko should have played dumb. If she had she would be with Haruko-chan learning to read and write and not with the older students being stared at with curiosity and varying degrees of envy.

Blue eyes flickered to the other, young students in class besides her. She recognized a few from the orphanage but some were new. Funeno-sensei had placed the youngest in front so they could see and so he could keep track of them. The next youngest looked like he was either a really tall five year old, as she hoped, or a really short seven year old, which was more likely. Of course Naoko was assuming that the boy beside her was the next youngest. Funeno-sensei might have not placed them strictly in order by age, maybe it was by height. Either way, she was extremely young compared to the rest of the students. Past experience and knowledge would make many of the older students think her some type of prodigy, a genius, which she most certainly was not.

Funeno Daikoku stepped into the classroom with a warm smile speared across his face. His Hitai-ate was tied as a bandanna covering his short brown hair. Funeno-sensei had a stocky build and was too warm for any other profession within the shinobi arts. He reminded Naoko of Naruto's sensei, Iruku or Iruki or... something like that. Naoko pushed down the rush of pained sorrow at not remembering his name. She would meet the man again one day and obviously he wasn't going to be her sensei this time around. She couldn't change that, not with everything she needed to get fixed and people she needed to save.

"Welcome to the academy and for some, welcome back. First order of business is introductions then we will be going over the first of three basic jutsu you all will know within the next year or so. Now lets start up front, Tano."

Naoko slowly stood up before, swallowing nervously, she spoke "I'm Tano Naoko... ummm..." She could feel the stares intensifying.

"What are your likes, and what do you want to specialize in after graduation." Interrupted Funeno-sensei. Naoko stared at him. The questions reminded her too much of Otou-san and his game of go, and of another sensei she had had once before, a guy with silvery, gravity defying hair. Shaking her head mentally the little girl thought for a second before a memory filtered through her mind.

A brunette was staring at her, at Naruto. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose and he had a amused, almost startled look directed at her. She could smell the ramen. He was treating her to food! Naoko jerked slightly as she felt herself beginning to speak.

...my dream is to be the greatest Hokage! That way, people will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Someone important!

Blue eyes blinked as she found herself standing staring at Funeno-sensei. Was that her dream? To become the Hokage? Or was that Naruto's? Wasn't Naruto and her the same person? Why would she want people to know she was important? She was supposed to be hiding how important she really was! Did that mean she wasn't Naruto?

"Tano-san?"

Naoko looked at her sensei and shook her head. "I don't know. I mean...I don't know what I want to do after graduation. I like gardening." With that Naoko quickly sat back down and made herself as small as possible to try and hide from the stares. Did she want to be Hokage?

AUAU

The Hato ANBU captain called for a halt, his gravity defying, silvery hair fluttered in the wind as they stood on a cliff side. There, below the ANBU hopefuls was Iyo, Claw Country's capital. The city spread out across the sea side, gleaming in the morning light. A breathe of air moved over the ANBU bring with it the salty taste of the sea. They had reached their destination and now the real test began.

"All down." Ordered the ANBU captain. They all settled silently onto the ground, some feet below the cliff face to keep themselves out of the view of the city. "Team Pigeon and Team Pig separate now. Right. Left." Itachi shifted slightly to the right as he watched four other ANBU hopefuls move besides him. He hadn't paid too much attention before but neither had he forgotten the fact that Team Pigeon consisted of a Inuzuka, a traps specialist, Shirakumo-san, and a shinobi set up as a short range fighter, a tank basically since he had no specialty.

"Establish you code names and positions to your teammates now." Ordered Hato.

Shirakumo-san spoke first, "Earthworm, rear guard."

Itachi quietly replied in turn. "Jaybird, center."

"Toadstool, rear forward guard." Stated the trap specialist.

"Ferret, forward guard." muttered the tank as the light gleamed a little too brightly off his blank white mask.

The Inuzuka growled out, "We're point," as he scratched behind the ear of his black wolf, emphasizing what he had meant by we.

"Name." Hissed Hato when the Inuzuka gave none. The ANBU hopeful stiffened and seemed to try to start a staring contest which was quiet a feat with the mask on. Itachi internally sighed, animalistic shinobi always had issues with dominance in new squads. The idiot was going to get himself killed with the way he was acting. Pigeon hissed out, again, "Name or you're out before we even begin, subordinate."

The Inuzuka growled out "Pussycat" after a moment more of silence. Itachi frowned behind his mask, all their names were somewhat demeaning but he had forgotten about that particular code name. Though, black eyes flickered over the two ANBU and their masks, having the code name Pigeon and Pig wasn't even close to being better.

Hato rose up and moved to address both teams. "The mission is simple. Tsune no Kuni is allied with Kaminari no Kuni. While this country does not have a shinobi village, they do have five strong shinobi clans under the orders of the DaimyÅ . The country also has strong samurai clans. One of these samurai clans, Oono, has a familial connection with Lightening Country and is the main clan in support of sending their shinobi to help in the Kumo-nins advance into Hi no Kuni. The Oono head's daughter is engaged to Tsune no Kuni's heir. She is to be assassinated. This assassination cannot be traced back to Konohagakure. The wedding is tomorrow so we will move tonight."

Buta stepped forward and continued the debriefing. "Hato and I will be following our specific teams during this mission. We will not get involved unless you all die and leave us to complete the mission for you. If you fail than Claw Country will not think twice about sending their troops and possibly involving their samurai clans in this war. This is not just some test. This is an actual S-ranked mission. Failure is not a option."

The Pigeon captain spoke up again, "Team Buta will determine who and how to incriminate whomever for the woman's assassination. Team Hato will be the ones doing the assassination."

One of the two kunoichi present spoke up, "Why don't we just make it look like a suicide? Wouldn't that be easier?"

Another of Team Pig answered for the two ANBU members, "The point of assassinating her is to keep Claw Country from entering the war. A suicide would be disappointing and possibly unrealistic but more importantly, it would not keep the country from acting. Its our goal to figure out the best way to make Claw stay out of the war. We have to blame someone that will distract Claw from joining."

"Forwards will be the acting captains." Hato finished the debriefing.

"What!" Cried the Inuzuka. "Points are always the captains."

"No. Now shut up and start the mission." Coldly stated Hato.

The two teams sat for a moment in silence, shocked by the fact that they were doing a important S-ranked mission when most had only taken on a couple A-rank missions in their time as shinobi. Some hadn't even gotten a chance to do a A-rank mission yet. They had to complete the mission properly without any aid from the two experienced shinobi. The ANBU hadn't even stated how the teams were going to be evaluated. Was it possible to succeed in the mission but fail the test? Or did they pass the test in succeeding with the mission?

Toadstool finally broke the silence, "Team Buta should work on getting the information we need to incriminate whoever. Team Hato, we should find out where the Oono compound is."

The other team's captain nodded in agreement before adding, "We need to meet back here at 1400 for debriefing and further planning." With that the two teams separated, each moving in their own disguised manner into the capital of Tsune no Kuni. Each team quietly positioning and planning out each members part for the information collecting mission they were now on.

AUAU

The wind blew through the trees. Leaves crinkled in the wind above the little girl's head. A bento sat, balanced precariously on the branch before the girl, forgotten. She hadn't been able to make a proper henge. She hadn't focused properly. Her clenched fists slowly went limp as the little girl tried to focus on meditation. The boys above her in class had shot spit-wads at her the entire time. She had done that to girls back when she had been Naruto. Now she knew why they had been so outraged.

It was so frustrating that she hadn't been able to focus enough to do a proper henge of all things! Hands clenched into fists again. Why did they have to do that to her? Shaking her head, Naoko closed her eyes, took another breath, and forced herself to focus back on meditation. After another breath, she pulled up some chakra, more than she had ever drawn up, and mentally followed it as she let the chakra slowly flow down her arms. As was expected it got stuck a few times.

Once it reached her hands the little girl carefully formed the hand seals dog, boar, tiger and then whispered, "henge no jutsu." The quiet displacement of air indicated the completion of the technique. Opening her eyes revealed that Naoko had been able to make a henge, though she knew she had wasted a large amount of chakra. She should have done a kage bunshin instead. Naoko looked down at herself, she looked like a crow siting on a tree. Looking over she blinked. A crow siting in a tree with a bento. How ridiculous.

"Did you see that little twerp?" Naoko jerked her head further down. There on the ground below her were the boys who had been throwing spit-wads at her. "The little baka couldn't even make a henge!"

"Yeah, what she doing in our class?"

"She probably doesn't even know how to read!"

Naoko clenched her fists and felt her henge disperse. How dare they! She'd show them! Blue eyes narrowed onto the group of boys. They chose the wrong three year old to pick on. Naoko pressed her lips together for a moment before pulling out a couple of deflated balloons. Lets see who was the real idiot.

With quick ease, Naoko's fruit juice filled the balloons. Pulling out some string, the balloons were carefully tied to the the branch above the crouching boys. Grabbing her bento, the little girl easily climbed one of the branches away from the boys and flipped off. Looking up at her handy work, she decided it was alright for such short notice. Naoko pulled out one of the kunai Itachi had given her and, making sure she kept her head up and aimed the kunai properly, sent it flying. The screams of the boys filtered back to her. The fools.

Finding a bench to finish her bento on, Naoko sighed. This was going to be painful. Maybe she should conveniently forget how to read properly. She was supposed to get on the same team as Sasuke-teme after all. Blue eyes slid up towards the sky. Sasuke... the little girl frowned as she thought about the boy. Why did she need to get on the same team as him? She couldn't remember...it had something to do with last time. What had she said to Itachi-kun? Sasuke, he left Konoha because of Itachi and the massacre. Blue eyes blinked slowly. The massacre wasn't going to happen, she would make sure of that so why did she need to be on his team again?

Blue eyes closed. He went insane. Shaking her head, the little girl tried to focus on the boy. Sasuke... A blurred image of a boy in a blue shirt filled her mind. "Focus." Breathed Naoko. A older face overlayed the image, Itachi's face. Shaking her head again, she muttered, "Stop, focus." Black eyes began to come into focus. A shy smile filtered across the boys face. He was sort of cute. The boy aged before her minds eye. He became a teen. Innocent eyes turned cold. The distant face twisted with rage. His mouth began to move but Naoko couldn't hear what he was saying. Focusing harder, Naoko felt a headache coming on. She had to remember why she needed to be with Sasuke.

it's too late, nothing...change me! I'm going to kill you...every last person in...village!...Kill me...or die...my victims!

The sounds of a thousand birds chirping filled her head and pain suddenly hit her chest. Naoko jerked up, finding herself staring into light gray eyes. "Are you alright?"

Naoko looked around, rubbing her chest as part of her mind was screaming it hurt though there wasn't any actual pain. She could feel drying sweat on the back of her neck. On the ground around her feet was the upturned bento and most of her lunch. She had fallen asleep. It had only been a dream. Focusing on the person Naoko answered while taking her appearance in, "I think so."

The gray eyes belonged to a tall girl with dark brown hair cut long, reaching just past her shoulders. She was pale, making her hair look even darker, almost black. Yet her black ninja dress made it apparent that her hair was brown. The girl broke Naoko's thoughts as she remarked, "You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Naoko frowned at her, "I'm fine."

"Hn." Gray eyes looked down at her. Naoko could see calculations forming in them. "You pranked those boys under the tree."

Naoko was immediately on guard, "I don't know-"

"I saw you set the trap up. You're interesting."

Naoko frowned and tried to repeat herself. "I don't know what you are talking abo-"

"What's your name?" Interrupted the girl again.

"Aren't you in my class? Shouldn't you know?" Naoko countered, the only children out were from her class.

"Do you know mine?"

Naoko closed her mouth with a click. She hadn't paid any attention to the introductions earlier. She hadn't thought she would need to. Besides she had been a little busy wondering about become Hokage or not. Staring she finally responded, "I'm Naoko."

"Yorimi." The girl looked towards the academy building. "Class will be starting soon." She turned back to Naoko. "You're one of the orphans, correct?"

"Yes."

Yorimi nodded at the answer. "None of the other orphans are interesting. You'll come train with me later." With that Yorimi headed for the door, Funeno-sensei was just coming out to get them. Naoko stared, her mouth hanging open. Blue eyes focused on the retreating girl's back, a red and white fan symbol reflected the early afternoon sun. Maybe she should be asking what was up with her past self and the Uchiha clan instead of Itachi-kun's little brother? Did she just attract them like moths or something?

AUAU

Large stacks of papers were pilled high. Some sat on the desk, most sat on the floor. The old man behind the desk sighed as he signed another paper authorizing the last of the tests for ANBU hopefuls. They didn't have time to make simple, useless tests for them nor did such test really show if they were ready for the position. Sending the ANBU hopefuls out to do missions the ANBU testing them would have been doing instead was the only way he was going to keep the missions from falling behind and Konoha from missing out on important moves in this growing war. They shouldn't be fighting Kumo but, for now, the peace talk was little more than sending proposals and having them returned unopened.

At least the war, if it could truly be called that yet, only involved the ANBU and high ranking JÅ nin troops being out on the front lines. The Chunin were stuck doing all the B and C-rank missions, sometimes even a few of the A-rank missions. A knock on the door pulled the Hokage from his thoughts. "Enter."

A group of ChÅ«nin shinobi, Sarutobi recognized as his academy teachers, filed in. The orphanages had all their children with even the slightest ability tested for the academy yesterday. He had forgotten. There was just too much going on for him to remember something so unimportant as that. "Report."

"Hai Hokage-sama. The orphans are fitting into the classes well so far. It's too early to tell if there is going to be any issues between them and the other children but we expect little as usual. Here's the files of the orphans entering the academy. We have a promising twenty-two new students, some of which may have never been caught by the regular tests." Smiled Funeno Daikoku as he handed over a stack of files.

"Very good." Smiled Sarutobi. He took the stack and set it on top of the one already in front of him. As he began going over the files, glancing at the names, ages, and class levels of the orphans the kage continued speaking. "As we have planned, these students are in the accelerated war time schedule. I expect the higher level classes to be able to graduate within a year and a half, preferably sooner. Anything extremely surprising amongst the orphans or the other students?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, we may have found a genius amongst the orphans. On top of that, some of the clans have insisted on placing some of their children in the classes with the orphans and civilian children. We didn't think it would be a issue."

"I expected as much. The clans are always looking for ways to up the others and the easiest is to get a clan child graduated earlier and proclaimed a 'genius'." The third Hokage looked up from the pile. "Now who's the apparent prodigy? Let me look at the child's file."

"It's one Tano Naoko Hokage-sama." Sarutobi nodded before pulling the file from the pile. Opening it, he stared at the photo of a familiar white haired, blue eyed girl. Now why had he not seen this coming? He should have thought about the possibility of Naoko being pulled into the academy like this, especially since he had witnessed first hand her ability to read. His eyes moved to the academy level she had been placed in. She was in level six, the equivalent of the graduation level for a regular academy class. That should not be possible, she was only three. He could see her being placed in the second or maybe even the third level but the sixth level was ridiculous.

"Exactly why has she been placed in this level?" The ChÅ«nins shifted uncomfortably as they found themselves the target for a rather cold stare.

Funeno gulped as he explained, "She has a high level of intellect, seen by the written test, and has a large chakra pool with evidence of possibly high chakra control because of the abnormally well developed chakra coils. Hyuuga-san wrote it all down. Its in the file, sir."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he looked over the file more throughly. She had gotten a 72/100 on her test, the other three year old had gotten one question correct of the three she had tried. The Hyuuga's notes did indeed state basically exactly what Daikoku-kun had stated, just with more detail. As one of his good friends, subordinates, and advisors would say: troublesome. "How was she in the class today?"

"She was shy but thats expected. Tano-san was having some issues with the henge, I'm not certain on whether or not she actually understands how to draw on her chakra. What the Hyuuga had seen indicates she should but it really could be some abnormality and she may actually have no idea." Explained Funeno.

The curly haired kunoichi instructor spoke up."I believe she is fully capable and has a strong understanding of how to use her chakra. I graded the written test of hers. She gave a extremely detailed explanation about chakra, chakra capacity, the stretching of chakra coils, and so forth. She literally knew everything you need to know about the use of chakra. I mean, as long as you're not a medic-nin."

"Thank you Suzume-kun. I will look over her answers later. Now she had issues with the henge? I believe that you need to watch and reconsider. If she is not able to make a proper henge by the end of the month she should be moved down to the third level where she can learn how to properly use her chakra. I would remind you all of the other genius students you have had or seen the results of. The two I'm thinking of are somewhat anti-social. Watch her and try to get her to interact with the other children if you see any issues. There is also the possibility of bullying, she is only three and the first female that would be given the title of genius. The other students may not take kindly to a female three year old orphan beating them at everything." Sarutobi paused, "Do not speak about her to anyone. I will not have the clans coming to me demanding to adopt her simply because they heard she is a genius. Anything else?"

After they indicated no, Sarutobi dismissed them. The old man looked down at the file before him. It wasn't all that terrible for her being placed in the academy so early. She would be able to learn how to defend herself sooner and, If he could make it work, longer than most children. All he had to do is make the graduation test set up to fail her until she was reasonably old enough to be a genin. Of course that all depended on his ability to get this war finished before it really began. If he did, then the children would be placed into a less accelerated training schedule. Any child who could graduate by normal standards would but Naoko would not be one of them, even if she learned all three academy jutsu and taijutsu. The war time schedule excluded the entire kunoichi arts, history, etiquette, and other less war important skills. If the war ended the children would have to take the normal test that would include those areas of study. The third Hokage smiled as he leaned back in his chair and pulled out his pipe.

This was actually perfect. Once she was no longer in the war time schedule, and a little older, she would be moved out of the orphanage and no longer available for adoption in a easy manner. Naoko would be trained under everyone's noses. As long as he could keep the information about her as a genius from spreading, that is. He wouldn't put it past his advisors and Danzo to try and interfere, even if they don't make the connection of who she was.

AUAU

Naoko peaked out from behind the crate. Where had she gone? Blue eyes slid over the area, cataloging the people she could see. Old Man. Man. Woman. Boy. Old Man. Drunk. Drunk. Girl. Ma-. Blue eyes swerved back to the girl but she was gone. Crap. Naoko turned around to flee only to jump back in shock, barely dodging the outstretched hand. Yorimi remarked to her with a disturbingly familiar smirk. "Nice dodge."

The little three year old stuck her tongue out and fled. Yorimi wasn't going to get her! Never, ever! "You're pretty fast." Blue eyes jerked to her right, the tall girl was just behind her.

"I don't want to play!" Cried Naoko as she dodge another hand. Sliding back on her feet, she crouched. "Its silly! I thought you wanted to train!"

"We are training." Naoko's eyes widened. The voice came from behind. She jumped forward, into the brunette. Displaced air whooshed out around her. A Bunshin. They haven't been taught that yet. The blue eyed girl used the smoke cover to get away. This was crazy! Why did she always attract the crazy ones? Why were all Uchiha crazy?

Naoko ran around the street corner. She could see the orphanage up ahead. She couldn't believe that she wanted to get there after all these months of trying to get out. The little girl ran as fast as she could. She was almost safe. Almost.

"Tag!" Naoko stumbled as a hand slapped her back. "You're it."

Naoko spun around to find the street empty of any brown haired girl. Where had she gone? Blue eyes moved over the street for any clue. Nothing. How was she supposed to find her?

Naoko slowly moved down the street, eyes moving over each intersecting street. Nothing. The little girl stopped in front of the street she had gone threw earlier. Clearly Naoko needed to learn how to track.

Annoyance flickered across her face. Naruto had always been the tank in the team. But she couldn't be a tank this time. Girls weren't built to be tanks. So maybe she should learn to track instead? Naoko doubted her ability with genjutsu and similarly with medical jutsu so tracking was what was left. At least she couldn't think of any other specialties kunoichi were trained for. Of course Naruto never asked so maybe there were other options.

"What are you doing here?" Naoko squeaked in surprise as she was lifted up by the back of her shirt. "I believe you're supposed to be at the orphanage right now."

Naoko glared over at the jerk. Blue eyes widened. "Toshi-san! I haven't seen you in ages!"

The monkey ANBU grinned amusedly at the little girl. "It hasn't been that long. What you doing out here anyway?"

"I'm training with Yorimi-san. We just got out of the academy!"

Toshi's smile faded. "You got in the academy, eh? On the war time schedule I bet."

Naoko grinned widely. "Yep! I learned the henge and we started learning taijutsu today."

"Oh? You doing good in your classes? Where's your friend?"

Naoko shrugged, blushing at the reminder of her failure with the henge. "She tagged me and ran off before I could see where she went."

Toshi set Naoko back onto the ground. "Go find her then."

Naoko turned with a huff. "I don't know how to find her."

"well...you'll figure it out someday. I got to go and report in. Don't do anything stupid!" The young man smiled at her before running up the wall, heading for the Hokage tower. Naoko frowned as she looked around again. She'll have to go bug Toshi-san another time.

There standing at the entrance of one of the streets was Yorimi. Her gray eyes regarded her calculatingly. Naoko walked over and poked her in the shoulder. "Tag."

"I have to go home now." Naoko looked up at her. "We'll train more tomorrow. Figure out how to find me."

Blue eyes followed the older girl's retreating back. She was a odd one. "Bye." Naoko called out after watching for a moment. Yorimi turned around and waved back. "I have a friend?" Naoko wrinkled her nose in thought. A friend? A number of faces flashed through her head. The faces were of people she didn't know. She vaguely remembered some of them but they hadn't become friends with her until after the academy. Naruto had been alone till that point.

...the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling, I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up...

Naoko closed her eyes. I'll never give up. I'll save everyone. Blue eyes opened. Yorimi was a Uchiha, meaning she was killed with all the rest of them during the massacre. She would save Itachi from having to kill them all and she would save Yorimi from being killed. They were her friends and she would protect them with everything she had.

AUAU

The moon was high in the night sky, but a sliver amongst the endless black. Itachi stared up at it as his team shifted impatiently, sharingan eyes spun lazily. Team Buta had returned with information on another clan of Claw. A shinobi clan who didn't agree with the actions of the Oono clan, nor of the up coming marriage. Pussycat was thrilled at the idea of blaming the clan. Apparently their clans were rivals, and not the friendly type. Itachi glanced over at the Inuzuka. He could see the adrenalin vibrating off his teammate.

Soft rustling tensed Team Hato. Team Buta's point landed a few feet away. "The Moon is whole on nights of snow."

Pussycat growled out, "The Sun is young at mornings glow."

Itachi rolled his eyes. Poems, why did so many people insist on using poems for their passwords? Popular ones at that? The ANBU from Team Buta tossed a set of neko-te to Pussycat. The clan they were framing was famous for the use of these knuckle claw hand weapons. They had a very distinct zigzagg pattern when used to cut something.

Ferret spoke up, "Alright lets get this done with."

The team nodded before heading towards the Oono clan compound. Scaling the wall and entering the compound was easy. The samurai were powerful and dangerous fighters but few had the knowledge or skill to guard their homes well enough against shinobi. The team ducked behind a building as a squad of claw shinobi ran over the rooftops. That was the dangerous part. The samurai protected the city during the day and the shinobi did so during the night. The squads helped guard against other shinobi like right now. It was most likely the main point of their nightly guard duties.

It took twenty minutes of hiding from squads and silently traveling over rooftops before Team Hato reached the building directly across from the woman's chambers. Her windows were open. This would not be difficult at all. Crouching on the rooftop, Ferret spoke up, giving orders, "Pussycat and Earthworm, you're guarding our backs. Jaybird, Toadtool, and myself will head in to do the assassination. Jaybird do you have a genjutsu that will help hide ourselves in case a squad comes by?"

"Hai." Muttered Itachi after a moment of thought. He couldn't recall if he had know the jutsu last time but using it now would not affect the outcome of the mission. "The genjutsu will make people unable to see us as long as we do not do any sudden movements. They will still be able to hear and smell us, though. The farther away I get the more likely the genjutsu will fall at simply moving, so Pussycat and Earthworm need to stay still after we head out."

"Good. Let do this."

Itachi nodded before pulling on his chakra reserves. It took but a second before he had the right amount and, flashing through a few hand seals, the sharingan user whispered out, " Sentaku Shitsumei." Itachi felt his chakra disperse over the team before settling on them like a thin film of water. "The jutsu will continuously drain my chakra while active but it should last a good thirty minutes."

Ferret nodded before leading the way into the woman's room. It was only a slight hop from the rooftop to the windowsill. Once they entered the three ANBU hopefuls stilled in shock. The room was full of sleeping girls. Little children. It was like a large sleepover.

"Did we get the wrong room?" Whispered Toadstool. Itachi said nothing as his mouth went dry. Here it was. The twist to the mission. Itachi silently pointed across the room. Hanging delicately on a child sized mannequin was a child sized wedding kimono.

"No." Hissed Toadstool. "I-I.. We can't kill a bunch of children! They can't be more than five!"

Itachi glanced over to the side, Hato stood silently watching them. He had always wondered if his captain had known about the missing detail of the child's age. It wasn't surprising for her to have other people in the room with her on the night before the wedding. That was somewhat traditional. The bridal party sometimes had one last party. Their age was shocking for anyone who wasn't used to nobility marrying off their young children. It had been horrifying the first time he had done this mission.

Ferret finally spoke up. "We have to finish the mission. Do either of you know who the bride is?"

Itachi glanced over the children. How he wished there was a way to determine that. Maybe there was something he had missed last time? The ten year old boy slowly moved over the sleeping girls, the sharingan spinning in his eyes as he searched for any indication. But like last time, he found nothing.

"No." Whispered Itachi. Looking up at his teammates as they also searched. "We can't look forever, one is bound to wake."

"You don't mean?" Toadstool shook his head, "I cannot kill them. I can't."

Itachi and Ferret looked over at each other. "We wouldn't make you do this Toadstool, guard the door." Ferret tossed one of the two neko-te to Itachi. Toadstool crouched by the door, his back firmly facing the room so he couldn't see. Itachi and Ferret slowly pull the hand claws on. Both their hands trembled slightly. It had to be done. He had done it once, he would do it again. For Konoha.

Stepping forward, the two ANBU hopefuls quickly and silently cut each child's throat, killing them instantly. Itachi tried to ignore the memories surfacing. He tried to ignore the girls' appearances changing to that of his clan members. He had to do this so that he would be in the position to kill his clan. He had to. He had to. He had to.

His chakra shifted. The draining of the genjutsu stopped. Itachi stumbled slightly as he finished the last child in his area. The genjutsu of his had just been disrupted. Itachi looked up sharply, "Somethings not rig-"

A muffled shout of "TSÅªGA!" followed by a loud crash filtered through the window.

"Damn Inuzuka." Cursed Ferret as he rushed out, "Make sure their dead Jaybird!"

Itachi quickly moved over the children, checking each for a pulse before moving to the next. After confirming them all dead, Itachi waved at Toadstool and the two rushed quietly outside. Sharingan eyes swept over the area quickly to find Pussycat laying, unmoving to the side. His black wolf was near by fighting off a large lioness. Earthworm was fighting a cat like shinobi while Ferret was taking on two Samurai. Two other samurai and three shinobi were already down.

"Help Earthworm, I'll help Ferret." Itachi ordered Toadstool who nodded. Itachi took note that Ferret was fighting the samurai off with the neko-te he had. Itachi checked the straps of his own. If someone looked at their wounds it would point to the claw shinobi clan and not Konoha. It helped that Earthworm was a kenjutsu specialist and was using a katana against the shinobi. This could work out perfectly if they got out quickly enough.

Itachi rolled under a swinging katana as he reached the samurai. He flicked his hands through seals. Dodging another swipe of the sword, he ran under the samurai's guard. Whispering "Memai", he slapped his hand onto the enemy. Itachi caught the sword with the neko-te's blades. The samurai swayed as the genjutsu took affect. The enemy stumbled back. Itachi took advantage of the genjutsu created vertigo and rushed forward. The samurai swing wide, no longer able to keep balanced. Itachi slammed his fist into the samurai's head. The neko-te's blades sheathed itself with a sharp slink as metal met bone. Itachi yanked the weapon free. Blood splattered over him, staining the white mask red.

Looking up, Itachi noted quickly that the enemy were down. Sounds of running feet could be heard. They needed to leave now. Itachi and Ferret quickly made sure the samurai were dead while Earthworm did the same with the shinobi. Itachi could see Hato kneeling besides Pussycat. Toadstool had grabbed one of the samurai's blades and was carefully sliding it over the dead lioness' wounds. Itachi unstrapped the neko-te and tossed it to Ferret. Ferret quickly traded their neko-te with the dead cat like shinobi's own. If anyone checked they would find the dead girls blood on those.

"Give me those." Order Hato. Ferret tossed the extra neko-te to him and they all watched as the body of Pussycat and the pair of neko-te were sealed. "Lead us out, Ferret."

Itachi quickly moved into his center position. Toadstool took over the forward position. The mission had occurred just as Itachi remembered it. His sharingan faded to his gray-black eyes as they met up with Team Buta. The mission had been successful. He was that much closer to the future. Itachi tried to ignore the desire to throw up. That much closer to killing his clan.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Monsters in Our Head

Fog rolled over the area. Itachi glanced over the silent Uchiha district. It was late and he just wanted to sleep. The ten year old's shoulders slumped as the weight of the world fell off them for but a moment. A warm bed, a hot shower, and maybe some good hot tea: That's what he needed. Itachi slowly walked down towards the main house. The silence reminded him too much of the night where everyone died. He quickened his pace.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Itachi stopped and the sound stopped. Dark gray eyes glanced slowly over the area. He couldn't feel anyone nor see anything out of place. Itachi took a few more steps. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Itachi paused again. Rubbing his fingers together, trying to ignore the sweat sliding down his neck, the ten year old slowly looked down into a pair of blank, dead, black eyes. A little girl's face stared back up at him. Her throat was cut. Itachi's mouth went dry.

He was walking on the bodies of dead children, children he killed. Itachi's breath became short. No. The ten year old quickly jumped onto the rooftops of the Uchiha District. He won't be walking on the dead up here.

"You killed me." Itachi jerked around. The little girl stood at the edge of the roof. She had a pure white, miniature wedding kimono on. "Murderer."

Itachi shook his head as he slowly backed up. "I had to."

Another child and another jumped onto the roof. They all had that same kimono on. Each of their dead eyes stared into Itachi's. "Murderer."

"I had to. I had to." Choked the boy as he turned and ran. "I had to."

Itachi could hear their small feet slapping onto the roof tiles. They were following him. He could hear their mantra of "murderer" as he continued to run. Itachi could see the roof of his home but it just wouldn't get closer. Why wouldn't it get closer?

"Itachi." The boy looked to his right and stumbled as suddenly the district wasn't the same. Itachi stared out at the silent district now littered with bodies and blood. His breath came in short gasps. "Itachi, you killed me." Dark gray eyes blinked as tears blurred the image. "You killed us." Uchiha Mikoto stood in front of him, white as a ghost with only red, bloody streaks sliding down each side of her lips and the wound in her chest. Clinging to her hand was a little three year old Sasuke, as dead as her.

"Onii-san, why?"

Itachi jerked up gasping softly, "I had to." Hands gripped his bed sheets tightly. Taking a few breaths, Itachi slowly released the sheets. The difficulty of being a child again and having to re-due actions already done were that they came back to haunt him. Again. Itachi clenched his jaw. It had been so long since he accepted his fate. He shouldn't be having these nightmares again. Not this vividly, at least.

The ten year old shook his head and got ready for the day. Soft morning light streamed through his open window. It was early but, dark gray eyes glanced at his door, the sooner he left the better. Itachi had gotten back the night before, late. He knew his parents were aware of his return but Sasuke wasn't. The ten year old moved towards the window, hopping on one foot and then the other as he pulled his sandals on.

A knock on the door stopped him from jumping out. "Itachi! Breakfast!"

Itachi slowly moved away from the window, "Hai Okasan." Pulling off his shoes, he moved sedately downstairs. There, seated around the table, was his family.

"Onii-san!" Itachi flinched lightly. "Train me!"

"Musuko eat." Order Mikoto as she frowned at Sasuke. "You can bother your brother later."

Itachi sighed as he accepted a cup of green tea. "Arigato Okasan." The room fell silent besides the sounds of chopsticks and the clatter of tea cups. Itachi stared blandly down at his untouched bowl of rice and fish. The tea was good but the food made him sick just thinking about eating it.

"Itachi don't make me feed you." Mikoto stared at her son, her eyes soft with concern.

"Mikoto leave the boy alone, if he doesn't want to eat, he doesn't have to." Fugaku stated over the stake of papers he had been reading over. Itachi glanced over them, they looked like council meeting transcripts. Why would he-? His father's eyes met his own, "I keep being informed of council meeting after the fact." Fugaku's face darkened lightly, "I have to read the transcripts to know what is going on." The older man looked to Mikoto, "Dear, remind me to speak with Sarutobi later. Someone is messing up on making sure I'm properly informed in time."

She smiled softly, "Of course. Will you be around for dinner Itachi? It feels like we haven't had you here in ages."

Itachi frowned, "I don't know. I'm going to be called to the Hokage at some point today for test evaluations. I can't promise on being here."

Uchiha Mikoto sighed, "I see. Well good luck." Itachi nodded as he rose to leave. Mikoto got up and started clearing the table.

"Itachi got in. There isn't any luck about it." Muttered Fugaku as he narrowed his eyes over a council contract, "Raising the academy schedule to war time...Student being allowed entry from ages three and up?" Looking up Fugaku glanced at Sasuke before turning to Mikoto, "I believe Sasuke will be-"

"No." Mikoto stated as she took the half eaten meal in front of her husband. "He won't be."

Itachi watched for a moment, as his father looked helplessly at his plate. Sometimes he wondered what led them to betraying Konoha. It just seemed so odd. They had never appeared to harbor hatred toward Konoha until after he had reached ANBU or maybe he had just never noticed before that. Itachi left his home. It didn't matter in the end, they were going to die.

Breathing in the stark, cool morning air relaxed him a little. He didn't know how long he was going to be able to handle living in the district. Itachi glanced over the area, memories faintly overlaying the place with blood. Could he do this? Would he be sane enough in three years time to do it? Itachi leaned back against the wall of his home. The domestic scene he had just left, where Okasan had shown her concern for him and for Sasuke. Itachi closed his eyes. Why had they betrayed Konoha?

"Yo Itachi." Dark gray eyes opened to find a tall dark haired Uchiha. With sharp eyes gleaming with some interest at him, Uchiha Shisui was standing causally before him. His best friend and mentor and teacher and rival. The first Uchiha he killed. The kill that gave him the MangekyÅ . The older Uchiha gave a faint, almost non-existent grin at Itachi. "It's been a while. I've heard you got into ANBU."

Itachi frowned at his once friend. He couldn't be one now...he wasn't going to be able to kill another friend like that. "I'm not ANBU."

"Yet." Finished Shisui. "Everyone is talking about it. You'd be the youngest ANBU in a long time, maybe ever." The black haired man grinned wider. "Come on, lets go to Auntie Uruchi's!"

Itachi rolled his eyes, "You just want to steal some of Teyaki-san's senbei."

"hmm, they are rather delicious but!" Shisui smirked over at the ten year old, "As I have a fine new ANBU with me I think I won't be stealing anything today. Of course that means you'll get some of their amazing tea for free too."

The world wary young man sighed, fighting a slight smile as he followed his past friend to the local Uchiha Senbei bakery. They did make the best senbei around after all. This didn't mean he was going to forget anytime soon about what he had to do but for now he'll ignore it.

It didn't take long for the two to find themselves relaxing with senbei and green tea. Both quietly enjoying the others company, Itachi finally getting a moment to forget the future and act like everything was fine. Shisui had always been able to get the Uchiha heir to relax.

"Both of you are acting like old men, you even took over my table." Itachi stilled, his head slightly bowed. He hadn't heard that voice in so long.

Shisui grinned faintly, a soft blush fluttering almost teasingly over the s-rank shinobi's cheeks. "Gomennasai, Kagami-sama."

"That's quiet alright, I'll simply join you." Itachi finally looked up and regarded the proud older man. Peppered hair was cut in short wavy spikes. Crow feet and laugh lines around the man's eyes and mouth told a tale the neutral expression of his face denied. Uchiha Kagami, his great uncle. He was the brother of Itachi's deceased Grandfather and uncle to Fugaku. He had been the genin teammate of Danzo and had been present for the final battle the Nidaime entered into. Unlike the others that had been present that day he had chosen to stay out of politics and instead focused on training the next generation of Uchiha.

Now he was retired and a semi-reoccurring advisor for the ANBU Commander, though Itachi only new that from his past-future memories and it was a accident that he had even found out about it the first time around. He couldn't know for certain but his great uncle had most likely been the ANBU Commander at one point. A powerful position that Itachi had always figured had been the reason Danzo had demanded that Kagami be the first killed in the massacre. Looking at the man now Itachi couldn't help but wonder about that just like he wondered deep inside at the reasons for the massacre, at the actions of his kin. Like the rest of his thoughts, it left him with the overly complicated question of why.

"Itachi-kun I've heard that there's some congratulations in order." The soft rumble of Kagami's voice reminded Itachi of all the random nights his great uncle had slipped into his room at night to read him to bed. A routine that his own father had insisted would make him act too childish as he had already made genin. Kagami had stopped after he had turned eight and had been forced to never even begin with Sasuke.

"Not yet..." Itachi looked away from the questioning look, a raised brow telling him to continue. "I have test evaluations sometime today."

"Ah." Breathed the old man before sipping his steaming cup of tea. "Well do you believe you passed?"

Itachi looked down into his own tea cup. The mission had gone just as before or as close to before that Itachi had little doubts involving the fact. He was certain that he had passed. "Yes."

The three fell into a companionable silence. The early morning air slowly warmed with the rise of the sun and the group of three quietly turned to idle conversation. As the last of the tea was drank Uchiha Kagami rose and with a slight stretch of his legs spoke up to Itachi. "Well come along." As he turned to leave he added, "Shisui be good and pay for that food." Itachi's eyes connected with Shisui's as he hesitantly followed his uncle. He couldn't remember spending time with his great uncle after making ChÅ«nin. This had never happened before; he had been too busy trying his best to met his father's expectations to even consider relaxing one morning like he had been.

AUAU

A yawn stretched across the little girl's face, tears filled her blue eye. Why were teachers so boring? A ruler whacked her desk as Funeno-sensei continued his lecture on the practical uses of the henge, a lecture he had given twice before over the last week. She had proven her ability to use the henge just yesterday so the lecture was even more worthless than it had been the last two times. The fact that the majority of the class hadn't mastered the jutsu didn't mean hearing the lecture again was going to help any. As she was about to fall asleep, the instructor finally finished the lecture.

"Now class we're going to start on learning the next jutsu genin should know about and then we're going to head outside for taijutsu training." Called Funeno. "The jutsu is called the Bunshin no Jutsu. It creates a illusionary copy of yourself..."

Naoko closed her eyes and slumped back into her seat. They were supposed to be on a war time schedule and yet it was sooo boring! It wasn't long before Naoko was sound asleep. Funeno's eyebrow twitched at the sight of the sleeping three year old. Maybe she was too young to be in his class but her test proved that she would be even more bored in the lower classes and she had done a perfect henge the other day, after only a week. She could only be a genius and she belonged in a class this advanced but even then she acted like she didn't need to listen and learn from him.

A flash of a certain silver, gravity defying haired shinobi went through his mind as he lectured. She couldn't possibly be related to the lazy genius, could she? Horror flickered across his face for a split second. No one noticed since no one was paying much attention to their sensei but that didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that Naoko could possibly end up just like him.

Funeno suddenly stopped lecturing and shouted sharply, "OUTSIDE NOW! Up you lot!"

Naoko jumped up in shock, her hand flying up towards Funeno with a nice, pointy kunai about to fly out of her hand. Instincts were screaming at her to kill the person that woke her up. The kunai flew and slammed into the black board after flying right past Funeno's ear.

The instructor blinked at the little three year old, he could feel a small amount of blood sliding down his ear. His jaw clenched, who the hell gave her real weapons? Hissing out sharply orders for everyone to go outside and stretch for taijutsu their sensei stalked over to the three year old. No one dared stay behind to find out what would happen and Naoko gulped, her eyes wide.

AUAU

The black commas of the sharingan lazily spun in the ten year olds, red eyes. Across from him stood Kagami, his hands slowly going through a set of seals: Bird, Snake, Rabbit, Bird, Snake, and so forth. He was getting a new technique, one he had never gotten to learn last time. His great uncle had taught him a number of things the least of which being the raiton bunshin. This was the first jutsu that was classified as A rank, though.

Kagami sharply turned from his great nephew and finished the seals calling out, "Raika HÃ¶rai no Jutsu." He then spat out small, blue fire balls which sparked as they shot through the air too quickly for most to dodge. A couple landed in the near by pond, sending waves of electricity over the surface and steam from where the fire had originally landed. The fireballs that hit the ground melted the plants and earth, small sparks flew out over the area setting small fires in the mostly dirt covered area.

The old man turned back, "Do you need to see it again?"

Itachi frowned over at the pond. "No."

Kagami nodded before ordering, "Tell me what you have figured out about the jutsu."

Itachi's eyes faded to their usual dark gray as he focused back to his sensei and uncle. "The jutsu uses both fire and lightening elemental chakra. It is similar to the Katon: HÃµsenka no Jutsu with sending out multiple small fireballs from the mouth and being able to control each fireball individually with a form of chakra thread. There is lightening chakra embedded into each of the fireballs."

Kagami nodded again before adding, "The lightening embedded in the fireballs are just enough to numb and possibly paralyze the person or animal it hits on impact. This jutsu can kill but is actually most commonly used to capture or distract the target. It is a A rank jutsu simply because of the large amount of chakra used." Kagami looked over to the tree line before waving Itachi away, "Practice it and come to me if you have any questions or issues. Now go with the ANBU."

Itachi started slightly but visibly. He hadn't felt the presence of the ANBU in the trees. It was a sharp reminder that he was ten and not the fifteen year old he remembered being. It was a strange feeling, knowing that you're forgetting things â€" important things, skills, jutsu, intelligence that could save them a lot of pain later on â€" but not being able to do anything about it. He could remember talking to Naoko about the crow, could remember it entering him and having this weird rushing, headache inducing feeling as he just suddenly knew things he hadn't the second before. Yet he couldn't actually remember giving the crow to Naruto. He only knew he had because he had purposely written it down to remember and had spoken of it to Naruto.

His jaw clenched as he watched the ANBU, a monkey masked one, jump into the clearing. He would have to figure out a way to get some of the information he had safely stored and available for when they needed it. Naoko wouldn't help too much, she was still getting used to being a girl and she was three. The lose of memory wasn't affecting her as badly as himself since she wasn't going off on missions she had done before nor was she in a physical position to be able to even think about relearning skills she was slowly forgetting.

The last part was a good thing from his memories of Naruto's lack of ninja related skills. She would still have a head start on relearning the rasengan since she nearly completed it during her random outburst. Naoko had the kage bunshin down and was well on her way to retaining her skills with flying projectiles. Everything else would fade to nothing, hopefully.

The Monkey ANBU interrupted his thoughts, "Ano, the Hokage would like to speak with you Itachi-san."

"Arigato ANBU-san." Muttered Itachi, his brow creased as his mind continued the circular thoughts he was having about Naoko and his situation. They needed to train but Naoko was too young to physically be able to do much training. They needed to remember important details and information but there wasn't really a safe way to store that information and Naoko had most likely forgotten any important information she had once known by now. It was up to him to set up things up to help them later on. He needed to figure this out and not just wallow around his kin.

"Itachi-san, I'm to make sure you go in a prompt manner." Interrupted the ANBU again.

"Itachi stop thinking and go get promoted." Ordered Kagami who had been standing there watching him and the ANBU with the infamous aloof mannerism of the Uchiha which was ruined by his wrinkles telling of many warm, laugh filled moments. The ten year old sighed with the heaviness of a elderly man before following Saru out of the Uchiha training grounds and towards his predetermined future.

AUAU

Naoko slowly followed the rest of the class through the simple taijutsu stances. Funeno-sensei had been outraged. He had ordered her to given him all her weapons. He had taken all of them, even the ones she had hidden on her person. Sensei had demanded to know who had given them to her, which she had lied about. Then he had complimented her on her form. Teachers were strange people.

The group of children rose onto one foot, and slowly pushed the other up in the air, a act of balance more so than any really useful taijutsu move in her opinion. She jerked slightly as something hard hit the back of her knee. It forced her to either break the stance or fall over. She quickly dropped her foot for balance.

"Naoko! Get back into the proper stance!"

Blue eyes looked down sharply as she got back into form. A large pebble lay besides her foot. The area was always cleaned between taijutsu training so that there wasn't any little objects like that laying around and possibly leading to injuries among the younger years. The throbbing on the back of her knee told her that it had been thrown: hard. She gritted her teeth as another sharp sting slammed into the back of her head. When the third pebble â€" which was more a small rock â€" slammed into her back, Naoko had just moved into a new stance. Hitting right into her spin, Naoko couldn't stop from falling over. Could they just stop bothering her? Taijutsu was already hard enough with her mind insisting that she was a number of inches taller than she really was.

"Naoko, five laps now!"

Naoko sighed before obeying. She purposely turned around to run the opposite direction than the class was facing. Her eyes settled on the group of boys in the back. Grins, quiet chuckles, and a satisfied smirk greet her. She should have known it was them. Most of the boys didn't actually do much to her. Some spit wads every once in a while, but a couple of them seemed really determined to get her out of class.

HÃµsei was twice her age and was from a civilian family. From what little she had heard he was used to getting his way with being the youngest child of a wealth merchant family. His dark brown hair was spiked almost horizontally from his head. It reminded her of Sasuke's hair except shorter. Him and Sukima seemed to hate her. Whether it was because she was a three year old, she was a girl, or considered a genius who has apparently proven that position, Naoko wasn't sure. She did know that the dislike was mutual.

Naoko shook her head softly as she focused onto other things. Her feet automatically moved her around the academy courtyard from countless past experiences, which she had many even though it had only been a week. After all, she still could remember most of Naruto's academy days and he was always in trouble.

Blue eyes wondered up to the sky. She wanted to prove herself to the others, to the teachers, and to the Hokage. She wanted to prove that she had the skill to be the daughter of two Hokages and she wanted to prove to Inari-sama that she deserved this second chance. She wanted to show Itachi that she was capable of helping save their future, of saving him from the massacre. She wanted to prove to Sasuke that she could help him and be his friend even though she couldn't remember why she needed to prove anything to a boy she hadn't even met this time around.

The only thing she remembered about the boy was he was popular where Naruto was scorned. He had all the girls squealing over him and Naruto had none â€" Naruto wanted that for himself simply because it would prove to everyone that he was equal to the Uchiha. That he was worthy of note, of praise. Part of her knew that she didn't want that. Part of her knew she could care less about the little Uchiha. She had to deal with Uchiha Yorimi's interest in her, though admittedly she couldn't complain much about that. It was rather fun. But she didn't need another Uchiha taking an interest in her. She had had more than enough Uchiha interaction with working with Itachi, thank you very much.

A flutter of light caught her eyes and the little girl slowed to a near walk. Fluttering over head was a yellow and black butterfly. A deep masculine voice almost sang in her mind as it spoke in rhyme.

I float..like a butterfly. And sting like a bee! 'Cause I'm-

"NAOKO DON'T STOP NOW!" Shouted Funeno-sensei from the other side of the courtyard, "KEEP GOING OR THERE WILL BE MORE LAPS!"

Naoko shook her head and started running again. She whispered out with a wondering expression spreading across her little chibi face, "I float like a butterfly." The little butterflies her hair dissolves into filled her thoughts. That was something she really needed to try harder at figuring out. It was just that as Naruto and as any little girl, she was not too sure about bugs. She would have been perfectly happy to ignore it a while longer, or even forever, but Naoko also wasn't the type of person that avoided conflict.  
"Naruto would have already figured it out with his hardheaded ways." Breathed the three year old before memories, nearly crystal clear, surfaced of the idiot and foolhardy child Naruto had been at three. Perhaps she was more mature at three then Naruto. Yet her maturity could only have existed because she was Naruto and even though she couldn't remember past the age of eight with Naruto's memories, she had originally been the eighteen year old Naruto. That mental maturity could not have gone away without some evidence left behind. Anyway, Naruto grew up ignorant of the dangers of his life. While he had a chance to be a attention hungry child, she needed to grow up and prepare for the worst. Naoko knew that she needed to train to save everyone from Madara.

Naoko stopped sharply. Who was Madara? She searched her mind for the knowledge and all she got was memories of her conversations with Itachi. Madara was the enemy and she needed to train to fight them. Madara wanted the Kyuubi. But who or what was Madara?

"NAOKO YOU HAVE ANOTHER LAP NOW!"

The little girl jumped slightly at the yell across the courtyard. She got back to jogging. Butterflies and evil guys filtered through her mind.

AUAU

Itachi lend forward onto his arms, his eyes closed as he firmly ignored the Hokage's secretary who had been trying to offer him multiple cups of water since he had entered. That and she had something in her eye with the way she was blinking so much. Well, at least that was what Itachi was firmly telling himself since the woman was twice his age.

Sitting near him were the other ANBU hopefuls. Each one was being called into the office one at a time. It wasn't long till Itachi was called in. Itachi flashed a glare at the quietly chuckling monkey ANBU guarding the door. He should try having a bunch of older woman do ridiculous things to get his attention. Itachi paused at the memory of giggling girls and women who all were watching the passing ANBU. It was a memory that hadn't happened yet since he had been one of those ANBU.

"Ah, Itachi do close the door." Dark gray eyes met the black of the Hokage's. Obeying, Itachi glanced over the other people present. Pigeon and Pig were standing at attention on the left of the Hokage while another ANBU with a wolverine mask stood at his right. The ANBU commander, Itachi had always wondered who stood behind that mask. "Itachi the exam indicated that you did well. As with all participants the examiners will discuss things you could have done differently and skills you should develop. As Hato was your primary examiner he will be speaking for both of them."

Itachi turned his head slightly towards Pigeon as the ANBU captain stepped forward. His arms set comfortably behind his back, Hatake Kakashi spoke up, "You did well over all. But no one was able to find out the age or appearance of the target. None of you even thought to do so. Gaining this information would have allowed the team to quickly finished the mission as everyone would have been mentally prepared to assassinate at least one child. This would have made the mission shorter and the comrade, Pussycat, would have survived."

Kakashi paused for a moment. Itachi gritted his teeth. Pussycat had to die, right? He had to, otherwise what would have happened to the future? With this so closely linked to the massacre, Itachi could not chance it.

"Your dedication and loyalty to Konohagakure no sato and Hi no Kuni was seen in the near nonexistent hesitation you showed in aiding in the assassination of twenty girls ranging from five to eight. You showed clear ability to think quickly when you joined in fighting the enemy samurai with the stolen weapon that emphasized inner city unrest instead of pointing towards us."

After another short pause the Pigeon ANBU captain turned towards the Hokage and spoke, "With full consideration of his actions and displayed skills during the assassination mission in claw country, along with the success of the mission bare the lose of a comrade, I give my full support in the initiation of Uchiha Itachi into the ranks of Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai."

Buta also turned to the Hokage, "I second the initiation of Uchiha Itachi."

The ANBU Commander turned towards the Hokage and spoke quietly, "In review of the mission report of both ANBU members and ANBU potentials, I also give my full support in this initiation Hokage-sama."

The Third Hokage leaned back and stared at Itachi. His brow was slightly creased as if in conflict with himself. Itachi knew that he was debating letting him enter because of his age. The Hokage had told him that much the night of the massacre. The elderly man finally spoke up. "Pending routine mental and skill evaluations, and skill development during the required initiation training month, Uchiha Itachi I initiate you to the ANBU." Sarutobi held up a scroll. "Welcome trainee."

Itachi took the scroll and bowed before leaving. Returning to his house, the ten year old slowly, almost relevantly opened the scroll and read its contents.

Welcome trainee. Your Sensei will pick you up at 0500 tomorrow.

Be prepared for a month in the wild.

Below the few lines of writing was a unusual storage seal. Though not uncommon, the seal required blood and not just chakra for it to release its contents. He knew that inside the scroll was his trainee uniform. Itachi rolled the scroll back up and stared down at it. Last time he had gone to his father to proudly present the proof of his position in the ANBU. This time Itachi wasn't naive enough to think his father would actually show pride, he already had the memory of what happened and had no desire to experience the lack of anything from his father again. Itachi knew that his father was a prideful man who held his emotions in a firm grip. Yet, if the man had actually shown his pleasure at seeing his son succeed so well then maybe thing would have happened differently.

No, Itachi had a little white haired child to inform of his absence for the next month and of course it wasn't a excuse.

AUAU

Gray-black eyes scanned the orphanage playground. His senses stretched out in search of a specific chakra signature. Nothing. Where was that girl? Itachi turned away and, after a moment of consideration, headed out to make a circulate around the village. She was bound to be somewhere training.

Itachi finally felt the specific chakra signature and frowned. It was coming from the academy. The ten year old stared at the building that he had only been in for a year. What was she doing there? Eyes narrowed before he settled into a tree to wait for the end of school. A glance at the sky indicated that it wouldn't be long.

Indeed, not even a hour after he showed up did the final bell ring and children exploded out the academy's doors. Dark eyes slid over the flocks of children searching out for the specific child. There. Itachi didn't move though, it wasn't the best idea to greet her in front of people. At least not so many people. His mouth thinned as he took in her appearance though. She was going to the academy and by the look of the simple weapons pouch on her waist, she was in one of the upper classes. The ten year old silently followed the little girl who soon was playing tag with a slightly older girl, one Itachi vaguely recognized. She was around the senbei bakery at times. Teyaki's and Uruchi's granddaughter or niece or something like that.

Itachi watched as his relative won every single time. Naoko couldn't find her no matter how hard she tried. It show another skill that Naruto had been lacking in, or at least a skill Naoko no longer remembered how to do. It also showed that his young relative would be a skilled sensory shinobi when she grew older. Naoko needed to learn how to sense chakra and be able to differentiate it from each person or at least from friend and foe. Most shinobi could only sense within thirty meters of themselves but some had a further reach.

When he was fifteen he could sense a little over thirty meters around. He hadn't even thought about his ability to do so now. He was unconsciously thinking of himself as older than he really was and so he had assumed at having that ability now. A quick test revealed the reason he hadn't sensed the Monkey ANBU earlier. His senses had dulled, or, more accurately, he hadn't trained them up to the standards they would be by the time he actually turned fifteen. Itachi's jaw clenched. It was dangerous not realizing the deferences in his abilities he actually had and the abilities his memory claims he had.

Shaking his head and silently vowing that he would start focusing more on training, either on getting his body and skills up to par or in keeping the skills and jutsu he was bound to forget because of the loss of memory. The ten year old focused back on to the two girls. They had decided to end their game of tag with Yorimi â€" if he overheard Naoko's word correctly from his position above them â€" winning each game. Watching the girl leave, Itachi tossed one of his kunai down in front of the white haired child. Blue eyes shot up to meet his.

The wide, thousand watt grin that was spreading across the little girl's face faded as she took note of the cold glare Itachi was sending her way. Itachi silently turned around and led the way back to his training grounds. Naoko followed quickly after.

"Itachi?" Hesitantly asked the three year old as they stood in the training grounds, the true question left unsaid.

Itachi turned sharply towards her. "You're in the academy." Naoko shifted in unease but didn't say anything. "What idiocy led you to believe that it was a good idea to enter the academy at your age and with your parentage? Did you think about what you were doing? Do you want to be found and spoiled and hidden away in some overly protected house? Had you thought of how this might affect your ability to work towards a better future? Did you think at all?"

Naoko flinched as the Uchiha's voice lowered with each question. It would have been strange but better if Itachi's voice had risen during his rant instead of growing steadily colder and quieter. It was like a razor slicing through her foolish thoughts and her desires to prove herself. The little girl shrank back from the glare directed at her before she seemed to get a hold of herself.

Righting herself, Naoko almost appeared to grow in height. Blue eyes flashed with fury. "I know." Naoko took a breath, "I know what I did was stupid but you said yourself that things weren't going to be the same! Why shouldn't I enter the academy and learn everything I can sooner rather than waiting around in an orphanage slowly learning things on the off times I get in trouble enough to be able to sneak away! Why should I wait until the danger of the future becomes the present? I took the chance because I wanted to prove myself! I wanted to prove that what I still remember isn't true this time! I failed at everything! EVERYTHING!"

Blue eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I can't remember much now but I know both because I indicated it and because of the fact that I'm here! If I had been able to stop this Madara, been able to save everyone I came to care about, I would not be back in the past in some little girl's body becoming some stupid little girl! I would be me still! I would be Naruto! I'm here because I failed! I always failed."

Blue eyes flashed into a shocking glare. Itachi took a involuntary step back. When she spoke again it was quiet, dangerously so. "I will not fail this time." The little girl's glare dared him to counter her words. "I won't fail you. Or Ojii. Nor my Tou-chan and Otou-san. Neither will I fail Yorimi." She stood tall, hands in fists and eyes sharp sapphires. "I. Will. Not. Fail. Konoha."

Silence stretched before them, her words echoing through both their minds. Itachi finally found his voice. "Alright." Dark gray eyes turned from the little girl's face and the determination for change. Something he had preached but hadn't followed. What would have happened if he had tried to do things differently?

"Just be careful, don't make them wonder about you. I assume they think you're a genius." His eyes turned back to her. "Don't make them wonder that its something more. It took me a year to graduate. I was five. It took Hatake to graduate a little below a year. He was four. You're three and you're a girl. Nothing against woman but people will wonder if you graduate younger than us. Its a common misconception that women are weaker then men, play on that fact and expect it."

Naoko frowned at him but nodded. "I already showed a perfect henge but we're starting on bunshin and I've haven't gotten that figured out as far as I remember. I'll take my time with it."

"Good. I'm going to be gone for a month. Try and stay out of trouble."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Answers Begin with Bugs

Puffs of air dissipated into the cold morning mist. Konohagakure never got extremely cold nor stayed cold for long, even during the winter, but it did have a week or two of near freezing temperatures during the night and early morning. Every couple years some snow might even fall during spring and stick around for a few days. It was one of those years.

Naoko struggled to step onto the inches of snow without making any sound. Her hot breath sliced into the frozen air and billowed outward in a whitish cloud. The sun was just now rising out of the morning mist. The snow might melt today.

The rest of her class moved out through the trees covering training field 43. Funeno-sensei had booked the field for the weekend. They were going to learn how to survive out in the wild. Blue eyes looked over the snow encumbered trees, their leaves hanging dangerously low because of the added weight of snow. It wasn't supposed to snow for their survival training but sensei choose to add its presence into the plan instead of reschedule, though he had gotten a couple more chÅ«nin to help out alongside the academy teachers. If the snow melted today, they would get to enjoy surviving the weekend in mud. The little girl frowned up at the dull gold light just now peaking through the mist. This was going to suck.

At least next week they were finally beginning spars at school. They should be learning the kawarimi no jutsu soon, too. The entire class had finally learned to use the henge technique to an acceptable level. Half the class were even able to use the bunshin jutsu at a similar level. She wasn't one of them.

Naoko frowned as she thought about the bunshin technique. It was a pain to get right, but she could get it to work properly when she had the time to concentrate on pulling just the right amount of chakra. Sadly, that time was too long for such a simple jutsu. She was getting there, though.

"Everyone gather around." Called Funeno-sensei in the middle of the field, or approximately. Training field 43 was mainly forested, though it had a small stream that was a shoot off from part of the Mogami river that traveled through the village. "This weekend is the first and most basic survival training we will be doing. As I told you yesterday, training field 43 is one of the largest training fields. Everyone is going to be broken up into nine teams of five. Each team will have a chÅ«nin in charge. This chÅ«nin is your leader and will be helping out with training. You will do what they say. We academy teachers will be going from team to team to help train you all. Now listen carefully, I will not be repeating these teams twice."

The chÅ«nin stepped up besides Funeno-sensei as the teams were named off. A vaguely familiar red eyed, black haired woman was given the first team. She was, in Naruto's perhaps inexperienced five year old mind, a bombshell. Naoko firmly ignored the thoughts revolving around the woman. Naruto moments, as she had come to think of them as, were easily ignored now. It had been almost eight months since she came here and by now it was a simply thing to ignore the seemingly perverted, immature, or overly mature thoughts that popped into her head. Instead Naoko focused on the teams and found herself in the second group with Aburame Muta as her temporary chÅ«nin sensei. The young man was covered head to shin in a long tan trench coat and his eyes were obscured under a set of dark tinted glasses. His hair hung long and loose around his face. He was mysterious and almost, strangely, forgettable. Even with him being so forgettable, Naoko just knew that there was something about him she should know. Naoko sighed softly, her lips forming a slight pout. One day these nagging feelings would stop.

The Aburame guided the team of five over to one corner of the field, where the stream was just entering the area. Waving his hand around the small patch of land clear of trees, he finally spoke. "Is this a proper camping ground? For a basic camp, it is. Here we have fresh water, though the snow makes that a moot point today. We have large trees and thicket around this area allowing ample coverage, wood for fire, and hiding places for traps."

The rest of the day slowly went by with Muta-sensei teaching them how to recognize plants they had already read about but were near impossible to recognize with only buds for leaves and snow covering them. After a hour or so of staring at plants, Muta went on to other topics. He showed them how to pitch a tent, how to drink from the stream without disturbing the silt at the bottom and for reference when they found stale, unclean water that they had to use, what wood to use for the least amount of smoke, and so forth. By lunch time all the children, not just little Naoko, were exhausted.

Yet they couldn't rest. Funeno-sensei wanted them to try and fish in the surprisingly deep area of the stream. Naoko sighed as she dropped the wiggling worm into the stream. She couldn't see any fish and the stream wasn't that deep, even if it was the deepest area. Blue eyes slid up to regard Aburame Muta. The chÅ«nin were all lounging around one of the fires in view of the stream. He stood slight back from the rest, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Hey Yorimi?" Asked Naoko as she moved her stick around a little to make the worm dance in the water.

Light gray eyes turned to regard her but the older girl didn't give any other indication for Naoko to continue. The three year old continued anyway, too used to Uchiha in general.

"Is Muta-sensei part of a clan? I get this feeling that the Aburame are but do you know anything about them?" Naoko continued to play with her stick. It was weird to get the odd feelings of knowing something but not getting actual memories no matter how many times this feeling happened. She should know this, she had known about this once. Why did she have to forget? Naoko sighed and watched her white clouded breath dissipate. How were Itachi and her supposed to help everyone when they've forgotten so much?

Yorimi didn't reply immediately. Blue eyes moved away from the group of chÅ«nin to find that Yorimi was still looking at her. The brunette finally answered, now that she got Naoko's full attention. "Aburame are a clan that specialize in using living weapons. They give their bodies up to bugs to be used as hives. These bugs can be controlled by them in return. No one knows how it works but the important part is that the bugs eat chakra. That is their main use."

"Oh." breathed Naoko. Her mind jumped to the butterflies. Maybe... maybe the Aburame could help her? But did she want the-

Naoko jerked forward as something hard pushed into her back. Then it was cold, so cold. Muffled splashes and shouts reached her ears. The sounds were coming from far away and seemed like a age ago. She couldn't breath.

Blue eyes blinked as suddenly the world seem to right itself. She was able to see trees and earth again. There, not far from the stream, was Yorimi beating the crap out of HÃµsei. A distant thought of where the chÅ«nin were flicked through her mind. A breathe of air brushed over her, reminding her of the cold. She moved her hand and blinked down at the water soaked coat. It was her coat. She pressed her hand against the wet fur. She couldn't feel it. Her fingers were numb. Another distant thought passed through her cold clouded mind. HÃµsei had pushed her into the stream.

It took being laid onto the ground by the fire to realize that someone had been carrying her. Within seconds she found her clothes pulled off and a very large coat pulled over her head before a number of blankets were wrapped around her. Blue eyes looked up to find Muta-sensei looking down at her. His coat was missing, leaving a long sleeve turtle neck and a long apron like cloth with multiple pockets tied around his waist. It was open in the front giving a faint appearance of a extremely long tool belt. The rest of his clothing were standard shinobi garb. Naoko stifled a giggle. Her mind lagged and things that weren't important seemed sharp and drew her attention, like Muta-sensei's clothes and the little bugs zooming agitatedly around HÃµsei. The crunchy tips of grass peaked through the snow, frozen like green gems. She had the sudden, implicit desire to pull them out and make a bouquet of grass.

"Are you alright? We will have to dry your hair. Most likely you will be getting a cold from this. Stay by the fire." Muta said to her as the other chÅ«nin stood around arguing in the background. HÃµsei and Yorimi were being held apart by two different shinobi in the group. The bugs only moved around HÃµsei though.

Naoko burrowed fully into the coat and blankets after a few minutes. The warmth finally penetrated her muddled mind and all thoughts of grass bouquets faded from it. The red eyed chÅ«nin, YÅ«hi Kurenai helped dry her hair. The little girl was surprised by the sudden image of the woman holding a baby. After the random Naruto thought she had expected something perverted revealed from her lost memories.

Naoko's last odd act before she was able to fully right herself was to ask about what hair products the woman used. Something scentless, Naoko couldn't remember the actual brand and wasn't about to ask her again. She was fully planning on forgetting the whole mess.

Funeno-sensei ended up deciding that it was a survival experience and she was to stay there. Her team would learn how to have a injured comrade in the wild. Naoko didn't care and decided that she really didn't like the cold.

At dinner time the children were ordered to try and catch some fish again. Naoko found Muta-sensei sitting besides her watching the lack of success. The other chÅ«nin were quietly preparing the real dinner at one of the fires just outside of easy view. Naoko was close enough to smell the cooking food.

"Are there actually any fish in there?" Asked Naoko suddenly.

"Fish in the stream? No, it is used for jutsu training too often for the habitat to be able to sustain them. This is simply an activity to keep them busy while we prepare the food. That way we do not have to listen to their whining for the food before it is ready." Came the prompt answer.

"Oh." Naoko scowled at the knowledge. She had known it was a waste of time earlier. Though, the little time traveler looked over at the Aburame, it had given her something useful. He might be able to help her with her butterflies after all. Maybe a simple question first, though. Naoko bite her bottom lip in thought.

Muta-sensei turned and regarded her in return. "You have a question, do you not? It is clear that you do by how you are looking at me."

Naoko frowned and squinted her eyes up at the man before finally speaking. "Well... I asked Yorimi-chan earlier today about you Aburame and she said you have bugs for weapons and all... but, well... Do you know much about other bugs?"

Aburame Muta tilted his head at her and his face seemed to lose what little emotion had been present. He seemed to almost grow guarded like he expected her to suddenly dislike him. "Yes, you are correct. Is there a specific bug you would like to know more about?" A heavy pause passed between them, "I can show you my bugs if you wish."

"Well." Naoko hesitated. She did want to see these chakra eating bugs but they were bugs. The three year old straightened with resolve. He had bugs. She had bugs too. It was about time she started getting used to the idea. "Alright, I'd like to see your bugs." At her response Muta lifted his hand and a couple tiny bugs crawled down out of his sleeve. Naoko shivered slightly at the sight but fought her instinctive shriek down to a simple squeak.

"Those are very nice bugs." She choked out, her voice higher then normal and her mind going back to the butterflies. Bugs: They were creepy, crawly things and they tickled and they should stay away and, and... Naoko mentally slapped herself. She had to figure this out and he might be able to help. Muta-sensei's bugs didn't seem that bad, even though they could eat her chakra. She hesitated for a second more before steeling her resolve, "Does it feel odd having bugs inside of you? Having them crawl all over you?"

Muta shook his head lightly, "No. Does it feel odd? I have not known any other feeling. We have the bugs within a few months of birth. It is as normal as breathing. It is how it should be."

"Really?" Naoko breathed. Silence fell over them for a few minutes. Muta quietly lowered his hand but continued to regard her. Naoko stared down at the bugs for those moments before she slowly pulled one of her hands out from under the blankets and slided her fingers over one of the bugs. "What do you know about butterflies?"

The bug she had just stroked zoomed up and around her. Muta spoke up as the bug landed on her nose. Naoko went cross eyed. "I know many things about butterflies. What is it you wish to know? Butterflies are varied by species. They come in many colors, many sizes, and live in many places."

Naoko stopped staring cross eyed, and choose to ignore the bug and her desire to smack it off her nose. "What is the most interesting thing you know about butterflies, then? And do you know of a good book I can find in the library on them?"

Muta leaned back in thought. "A good book on butterflies? Yes, come by the compound after the academy Monday and I will have a book for you."

An hour or so later Funeno-sensei walked over to the stream and called out, "Dinner! Enough fishing, we'll try this again tomorrow." Naoko's peers exploded out towards the food. Relief was written on all their faces. Funeno-sensei walked over to them and handed both Naoko and Muta large bowls of stew. "We don't want you getting sick now?" Smiled the beefy man.

"Stew for dinner, thank you. You do realize that this is not proper survival training, though? This stew is not something they will be able to make easily in the wild." Stated the Aburame matter of factly.

Funeno-sensei shrugged. "This is only the first survival weekend. The focus this weekend is the basics. They'll have to ruff it at some other weekend. Now you got to eat all of that Tano-san."

Naoko looked helplessly down at the giant bowl in her hands. Even if she did eat as much as Naruto, he couldn't possible eat this much at three years old. Muta distracted her by suddenly answering her question. "What is the most interesting thing about butterflies? It is the folklore behind them." Naoko looked up as she took a big bite of steaming meat. "Butterflies are our souls and the souls of the departed. They are souls leaving to the afterlife and souls coming to visit their living loved ones. When one comes into your home, they are considered good luck most of the time as they are considered to be your dead love one coming to check on you. If, of course, that loved one was not of the best disposition it may instead mean something bad is about to occur." Muta sipped some stew before continuing. "A swarm of butterflies are considered a bad omen because this can mean that many people are about to die and those butterflies are images of the future."

Naoko stared wide eyed, a faint memory of a pathway in the darkness lite by glowing butterflies filled her mind. The words of Inari-sama and Tou-chan whispered in the background,

"I went to the dear Shinigami and he gave me access to your father..."

"...dragged your soul with him as he fled to this other existence"

"Uzumaki Naruto is dead."

What did this mean? Was she dead? Naruto is dead, but she is Naruto. Their soul was one and the same, the only thing that made them different were their bodies. Her body was created by Inari and the Shinigami.

The Shinigami.

Butterflies are our souls.

Muta sudden whispered as he stared up at the clouded, darkening sky. "The journey will be long and very hard at times,  
but the delicate butterfly will dance and sing to the chimes.

For the wind and songbirds who are its friends,  
will gently guide it along its path until it reaches the end.  
And its wings of strength will never let it fall,  
because the butterfly is special and it will conquer all."

Naoko blinked up at him. Muta looked down at her as he shrugged, "what was that? It was simply part of a poem I had once read. It speaks of the path of the soul in the afterlife."

AUAU

The double doors were at least ten feet tall. A stylized bug was engraved across the doors making the bug split down the middle when the right door slid open. Naoko rubbed her hand across her thighs, rubbing the sweat from them. Yorimi silently stood behind her. The open door revealed a unfamiliar Aburame staring down at them.

"Hi I'm he-"

"Yes, this way Tano-san. Is this your guest? She may come also." Naoko glanced back at Yorimi. The Uchiha only raised a brow at her. The little girl turned back and followed the retreating Aburame, firmly ignoring her flaming face. She didn't need Yorimi's assurance! She could take care of herself and this wasn't a situation where she should even be uncertain.

The still nameless Aburame left them in a empty sitting room. Naoko looked over the wall of bug specimen being displayed. She couldn't even begin guessing at what most of them were. A number must have been beetles. She sniffed loudly in the quiet room as the minutes went by. Naoko had gotten a cold from her fall into the freezing stream. Naruto had never gotten sick before. She wished that she had the Kyuubi inside her now. Colds weren't fun.

"After this we are going to train, right?"

Naoko looked over to Yorimi to find the older girl surprisingly agitated. That was a first. Uchiha were annoyingly difficult to read. To be able to see that much emotion worried Naoko for a moment. At least, until she noticed Yorimi shiver whenever her eye glanced over at the bugs on the wall. Yorimi was scared of dead bugs! Naoko giggled softly.

The door slid open and the two girl came to attention. A small boy stared in at them. "What are you here for? I do not believe I was going to have anyone come for dinner so you must be here for something else. Why? Because dinner is not for another couple of hours and I don't know you so I could not have invited you to it."

Yorimi and Naoko looked at each other. Both were quiet taken aback by the little boy. The blue eyed girl finally stepped over to him, "We're here because I'm supposed to get a book on butterflies," Naoko paused for a second but couldn't help but feel that she should say something more. "But we can play if you like. We usually go play hide and seek after the academy and we're doing that after this." Naoko firmly ignored Yorimi's quiet, faintly outraged whisper that it was training, not playing.

"I do not know if I would like to play. Might I observe? I will be able to determine if I wish to play or not after seeing the game in action for a round or two. Why? Because I have not played hide and seek before."

Naoko blinked. Aburame must talk like this in general. Though Muta didn't seem to explain why all the time. He still answered his own questions. It was odd. "...Sure."

The little Aburame nodded sagely. Muta stepped into view soon after. With him standing besides the little boy, the similarities in clothing was crazy. The little boy was like a mini Muta except he had short, thick, spiky brown hair. Muta glanced down at the little boy before greeting Naoko and handing her a small leather bound book. "Is it about butterflies? Yes, it is a detailed journal summarizing our research on butterflies. It should have everything you would like to know. Please return it the instance you have finished it."

Muta turned to leave without any response from Naoko to only stop and stare. "Shino-sama what are you doing here still? You have many things you could be doing now."

The little boy, Shino, again nodded sagely. "I am aware. I am here because I am going to observe these two play hide and seek. Please inform Otou-san that I will be back later."

Muta nodded silently at the request before leaving. Shino, in similar silence, took them back to the entrance and followed them through the streets. Finally Yorimi stopped. "Right," Her gray eyes glance dubiously over at the little boy, "I'm it first so Naoko has to go hide. I count to twenty and then go find her. You should stay with me this round, alright Shino-san?"

The little boy tilted his head at her. It took a moment for the two girls to realize that that had been his response. At the realization the girls started their afternoon training. Shino never started playing with them but simply switch between following each of them either hide or seek throughout the afternoon.

Naoko carefully peeked her head around a corner, firmly ignoring Shino. She would catch Yorimi today! It couldn't be that hard to find her. Yorimi found her easily enough, no matter how good her hiding place was.

"Why do you not search for her chakra? She looks for your chakra and she also hides her chakra from you. I do not see why you do not do the same. Why? Because it is the most logical thing to do. I would think that it would be part of the game." Remarked Shino as Naoko turned back from the corner.

Naoko stared at the boy. What was he talking about? "You can do that?" Breathed Naoko before rubbing her nose on the back of her hand. It was starting to get runny. Hopefully the cold didn't get any worse than that.

Shino tilted his head, "Can I sense chakra? To an extent. I can easily sense and recognize my clan members around me. I can also recognize shinobi from civilians but I do not have the greatest skill in this. I can also find people with my bugs so it is not as important for me to master the technique as others. I cannot hide my chakra at this point either. That is a difficult skill to learn but Yorimi-san clearly is skilled in this area of the shinobi arts."

Blue eyes squinted at the Aburame, "How old are you?"

The little boy was some inches taller than Naoko but she had learned how little size actually indicated age. "How old am I? I am four. May I ask the same of you, Naoko-san?"

Naoko blinked, bemused. Shino didn't act like a four year old. Of course she didn't act like a three year old but she had a excuse. Though, thinking about the other Aburame Naoko had met, she could see why Shino was so mature. He was surrounded by bugs for one thing. Finally she remembered Shino's question. She quickly answered, her cheeks burning pink even though the older boy was patently watching her. It was like she had forgotten he was even there! "I'm three."

Shino nodded in his all knowing way and turned to Yorimi, who Naoko hadn't noticed before. "And you Yorimi-san?"

Yorimi folded her arms in front of her. "Five. I have to go." She looked over at Naoko, "Now that Shino-san has given you help I expect that you'll make these training sessions more challenging soon."

The three year old watch Yorimi leave, helplessly. Turning to the little Aburame, Naoko asked in some desperation, "How do I sense chakra?"

The boy stuffed his hands into his pocket, "It is getting late."

Naoko nodded before blushing at the growling of her stomach. It was diffidently late but she needed to learn how to sense chakra! "Ano, can you tell me how to do it?"

Shino shook his head, "Another time Naoko-san. I do not think I would be the best person to answer this question."

She sighed softly but nodded. "See you around Shino-kun." With that the little girl turned to leave. But Naoko's maturity decided to suddenly rear its head as she pulled out some pocket change before turning back to the boy. "It's dinner time and we're a good twenty minutes from the orphanage and your compound. Do you want to eat with me."

The little boy paused from leaving too and looked over at her hesitantly. Naoko could just make out a confused expression on the boy's face. Shino suddenly, quietly took her hand and started pulling her in the general direction of the Aburame compound. Naoko just barely heard Shino mutter, shyly, "Thank you, there is a good dango shop near my home."

It wasn't more than three minutes after that, that Muta and another Aburame, Shino's father Shibi, came and joined them on the walk there. She had a strange feeling, stemming from the fact that they didn't ask about why she was there, that the two had been watching their hide and seek training. It would explain why Shino, only four, was allowed to wonder alone.

Once they reached the dango shop, Naoko found more Aburame, including Shino's mother. And it was only after the meal that Naoko realized that their odd logic dictated and formal speech became informal and normal when surrounded by kin. And with the logic that only a three year old would make, she determined that it had to be the bugs. That was probably the answer to every question involving the Aburame.

AUAU

The soft sounds of paper being moved caught Itachi's attention. It was late, or perhaps early, and he had just woken from another nightmare. At least this time he had avoided throwing weapons in his sleep. The cold, frosted air of early morning began to freeze the sweat on his body. The dreams were getting worse. His memories were fading closer and closer to the massacre, making the memories more vivid.

It was even more dangerous with the end of the month coming closer and, with it, the required mental evaluations. He couldn't fake those with the Yamanaka clan in charge of them. He needed to do something, but what? Itachi couldn't fail the evaluations. He would not be allowed into the ANBU and that was nearly always a one time deal. The ten year old couldn't fail with so much at stake.

Dark gray eyes looked up and found a pair of mismatched ones staring at him from behind a little orange book. Kakashi seemed to always be there when he woke up this last month. His captain had seen nearly everything and it was worrisome. ANBU weren't the most mentally stable group of shinobi but they were still stable enough and it was the jobs taken as ANBU that led to their instability. His nightmares would be bringing to question his sanity and his ability to work in ANBU. Kakashi would have to bring them up in his evaluations if he had witnessed enough of them, which Itachi had little doubt that he had. That would be the icing on the cake so to speak, even if he didn't fail the mental evaluations. Itachi could only hope that the older genius would be sympathetic and make his report somewhat under-exaggerated.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Kakashi closed his book. The silver haired man leaned towards the ten year old and handed the orange item to him. Itachi stared at him, a hint of bewilderment in his dark eyes. What was he supposed to do with it? Kakashi stared at Itachi for a moment more of silence before his eyes curled into smiles. Itachi could just make out the upward shift of his mask indicating a smile. "You look like you could use a distraction."

Itachi ignored his captain's retreating back to stare down at the worn and well loved book. One corner was folded and dog tagged from being pushed quickly back into Kakashi's utility pouch. The ten year old wasn't sure whether he needed to wash his hands after handling it or not.

As the boy began to put the book away, the authors name caught his eye. Jiraiya was a self proclaimed super pervert but he was also a major figure in Konoha's intelligence. What better way to get the information of the Akatsuki down than through his books? Itachi pulled out a pen and opened the book to the first page. A few minutes later he carefully circled a word and wrote the page number down on a small scrap of thick, decorative scroll paper.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: To be the Clouds

Wheezing coughs exploded uncontrollably out of the little white haired girl as she fell to the matted floor. One of the older girls in class stumbled away from her squealing about getting sick. Naoko scowled up at her, not quiet believing that she was the same person who had beaten her in the spar a moment before.

"Naoko go home." Blue eyes jerked up and widely stared at her sensei. "Get some rest and don't come back until you're better."

"But-"

"No buts." Funeno-sensei turned around and called for another pair to spare. Naoko pouted over at him before leaving the academy attached dojo. Why did she have to get sick when spars finally began? Naoko grumbled quietly to herself as she rubbed her flaming red nose across her sleeve. She was going to show everyone that she wasn't just some tiny little kid! Believe it! They had to accept her then. Naoko stilled before shaking her head. Itachi's warnings squashing any Naruto like plans from her mind.

Wondering slowly back to the orphanage Naoko decided quiet firmly that being sick really, really sucked. She couldn't do anything. Naoko glared up at the orphanage at the end of the street. It didn't help that most of her time was spent doing nothing in that building since none of the caretakers would let her train. The only time she could get real training, and not just mediating, was at school or the rare times she got in trouble enough to be sent to the time out room where she could escape to Itachi's training field.

Blue eyes suddenly lit up. She didn't have to go to the orphanage now. Sensei hadn't actually told her to go immediately. With that the little three year old scrambled towards a familiar training field. It was time to do some proper training, finally.

"What are you doing?"

Naoko stilled guilty for a second before turning to find Buta standing lazily over her. She hadn't seen Buta in ages. Which reminded her that she was supposed to go find Toshi-san at some point. Naoko pouted up at the ANBU, maybe she could get him to just leave her alone?

Buta sighed heavily. "You look like crap kid. Shouldn't you be sleeping somewhere?"

Naoko folded her arms in front of her stubbornly. "I'm going to go train, dude!"

"Troublesome... Come on, you can train with me then." Blue eyes went huge. Naoko latched onto the outstretched hand and happily allowed herself to be dragged off towards a distant training field.

All the possible training she was going to get bounced through her mind. The possibilities were near endless. This was a elite shinobi willing to train her when he must be on duty as he was in full uniform. Oh, maybe he'd show her how to use his katana or maybe an awesome jutsu. It was possible that he'd teach her some slick ANBUy skill that only ANBU ever get to learn. Or perhaps he could teach her ho-

"Right, sit down. Do you know the rules?"

Naoko jerked out of her thoughts. She looked down and stared for a second before looking up incomprehensibly at the ANBU. "What?"

Buta heaved as heavy sigh, "Troublesome. Do I actually have to teach you the rules?"

The little white haired girl stared at the ANBU helplessly before finally asking, "Couldn't you teach me a super awesome jutsu instead?"

The ANBU knelt before the Go board and stared back over at her. "No. That's too troublesome."

Naoko bite her lip before trying again, "Don't you have a patrol or something, dude?"

"No, I just haven't bothered changing out of my clothes." Buta pulled out the black and white pebbles. "White or black? And stop calling me dude."

Naoko sighed before kneeling at the other side of the board. "Black." She stated as she rubbed her red nose across her sleeve again. There goes her chance at training.

A few minutes later Buta asked blandly, "Are you even trying at this?"

The three year old stared wide eyed down at the board. She had lost in under five minutes. That was so unfair. Naoko voiced her objection. She was three and when she had played this against her Otou-san she had lasted way longer than this. Of course, they had stopped playing pretty quickly.

The ANBU said back in answer to her objections, "I play to win. So I play to survive. You're not even trying."

"What? How's winning a game with stones surviving?"

"Think of the pebbles as people who's survival is in your hands and your goal is to finish the game with as many of them alive as possible while also winning using as few of them as you can." Buta quietly instructed Naoko on the rules of Go and of strategy. The concepts her Otou-san had described to her slowly came back over the course of the hour. She might have been able to remember the dream perfectly, but it didn't mean she had been paying attention to her Otou-san's instructions when she was still getting over the fact that he, Senju Tobirama, was her father.

The next serious game Naoko played against Buta she survived for a whole ten minutes. While that didn't seem all that great to Naoko, Buta did remind her that that was over twice as long as her first time. Most of the morning faded away as Naoko struggled to understand and then implement Go strategy all the while Buta leaned back and watched the clouds role by before moving one of his pieces at a glance of the board. It was nearing lunch when Naoko's thoughts began moving away from the board and over everything she needed to learn: The bunshin technique, her butterflies, how to sense chakra, and so much more.

"Naoko," Blue eyes looked up and she paused as a bento box was held out to her. "Your mind's wandering and that means meal time."

The little girl moved over to sit besides the ANBU and lean against the tree he sat in front of. Naoko silently picked at the food as she dully thought of everything she still needed to learn and to do. There was so much at stake and here she was doing nothing.

"Heavy thoughts aren't for the young."

Naoko looked up at the man, if only he knew. Chewing on some teriyaki chicken Naoko's mind wondered over everything again until, finally, she muttered out to herself, "How do you sense chakra?"

The little girl jumped at Buta's voice as he answered her unintended question, "Instead of looking inside yourself you look outside yourself."

A frown stretched across the little girl's face and she complained loudly, "But that's where the omni-omipon-omnipotent chakra is!"

"Really now kid, you're just sensing everyone's chakra around you. You got to dig deep and separate them." Naoko stared dubiously at the pig ANBU. She could distinctly remember the chakra. Naoko had felt its vastness. She just knew that she could get lost in the chakra if she just reached out and touched it. That chakra just didn't seem human.

Yet, maybe, Buta was right. The chakra could just be everyone's chakra around her feeling like one big mass. Naoko looked down at the bento box in her hands. It just didn't seem right.

AUAU

"-hat you mean? A message actually came back with a response?"

Naoko wrinkled her nose and burrowed into the warmth besides her. Stupid people interrupting her sleep should die. A cool breathe of air teased white strands of hair across the little girl's cheek, making her shiver.

"That's right. A cease fire has been instated. The peace talks are to begin in a week."

Naoko mentally growled. Couldn't they move out of her room. Something brushed her hair out of her face. Blue eyes blurringly opened into a glare to find her face pressed against black clothe. She slowly looked up to find herself looking at Buta. His hand was resting on her head.

"Where?"

The little girl turned, still half awake, to find the bento box half eaten besides her and a pair of legs some feet away. Following them upward revealed a young, frowning, familiar man. It was Monkey in casual clothing. So Toshi would be the proper name for him, Naoko mentally reminded herself. Toshi looked down at her in faint concern and maybe some amusement. It took a minute for Naoko to realize that she was hugging Buta's leg. The little girl frowned at the familiarity of it, not knowing that she had done so months before in the hospital. Toshi turned to Buta before he spoke, "Here. I'll take Naoko-chan back to the orphanage. it's getting late and she should be sleeping in a bed."

"Ah." Muttered Buta in agreement.

Naoko thanked Buta and allowed herself to be dragged away. Her clouded mind not realizing what she heard and its implications till much later. Once she realized, all she could think of was what the peace talks could possibly mean for the academy schedule. In two weeks there was a graduation test for all academy students believing themselves prepared but could she be ready by then? She still needed to master the bunshin jutsu. With this cold she wasn't allowed at the academy either. If the peace talks succeeded would she not be allowed to try to graduate next year? The academy was boring enough as is, she did not want to be stuck in it any longer than she had to.

AUAU

Itachi jerked awake. His eyes blazed with the sharingan as he forced a shout down to a choke. The ten year old stared down at his out stretched hand, his heart pounded in his ears. Sweat trickled down his neck. Following the path up, the boy stared at kunai handles gleaming from the tree trunks in front of him. His red eyes slow turned and met the mismatched eyes of Hatake Kakashi. The grim frown on his captain's face spoke volumes. After a moment of silence between the two, the Pigeon ANBU rose, "Come with me Itachi."

The ten year old silently followed the older genius back towards the village. After a few minutes of the quiet sounds of their feet tapping the branches during their run, Kakashi spoke up, "Itachi, I don't think you should be here."

"Sir, I'm fine." Argued Itachi. "It was just a drea-"

"You are not alright. You threw twenty kunai at the trees in your sleep. You have done similar things for most of the month." Kakashi slowed their travel to a stop and landed onto a branch of a rather thick maple before turning to look at Itachi in the eyes. "I'm retracting my recommendation for you entering the ANBU at this time. I will also be recommending a living relocation."

Itachi frowned sharply at Kakashi, "That is not necessary, Sir. A few nightmares do not qualify for this, especially a change in residency."

The silver haired man shook his head slightly, "Itachi, talking in your sleep about killing your family, your mother and brother, is reason enough. I'm getting you out of your clan's district before you snap." Kakashi paused for a moment, unknowingly allowing the sinking feeling to grow in the pit of Itachi's stomach. "No one but the Hokage, myself, and the ANBU commander will know you are not a ANBU at this time. We can't have it get out since three fourths of the village has learned of your apparent ANBU status. Kami knows how you being pulled out will affect the Hokage's and your clan's standing amongst the rest of the village, especially the other clans. I'm sure the Hokage will agree with making it appear that you're a ANBU who is set up to live in the ANBU HQ on orders. It does happen."

"Just not with clan heirs." Argued Itachi, the sharingan spun faster in his eyes. "So I'm not to be a ANBU because of some nightmares? You must have had nightmares about your father, and your teammates, even the Yodai-"

Itachi slammed into the tree, Kakashi's hand gripping his armored shirt. sharingan and mismatched eyes met, "Boy, those nightmares ar-were of their deaths and me not being able to save them. They were not about killing them." Itachi gripped Kakashi's arm and gritted his teeth as the ANBU pulled him off the tree. His feet dangled some inches above the branch. Kakashi leaned forward. "We all are messed up somehow kid but I can promise you that you're the only one I know personally dreaming of killing his kin."

Itachi jerked back as if slapped. Nightmares. They weren't dreams but nightmares. Itachi bite his tongue and lowered his eyes, the sharingan faded to dark gray. Dreams or nightmares, did it matter? Itachi took a breath. No, it didn't. The thoughts of killing them were still in his mind all the same. And what was worse was that he had killed them once already. "I apologies for my words Taicho."

Kakashi dropped the ten year old and silently headed back out. Itachi stared after him for a moment. If-When he followed, his future career as ANBU will end before it began. He would no longer be in a position to take responsibility for the treason of his family. Someone else will kill them, and probably him too. Strangely enough, that sounded so simple and so nice. Itachi's tight shoulders loosened and he jumped off after his past's Taicho. His future would be forever changed. Just like Naru-Naoko's. His future was now his to remake.

Kakashi silently waved Itachi to the line of empty chairs outside the Hokage's office as he knocked and entered. Itachi slid down heavily into one of the hard wooden seats. It was so early that the secretary was missing. Dark, gray eyes moved over the empty room. Twilight filtered through the window. It was almost dawn.

His eyes looked over the city scape framed by the window, a strange almost disconnected feeling filled him. He could just make out the Hokage Mountain. The grim faces of stone stared out over their village, forever watching over the lives they had sworn to protect. He had chosen the village over his family in another life time. Itachi was supposed to do that again. That had been the plan. He was supposed to take his clan's lives. He was supposed to save the village.

Naoko's voice whispered through his mind. I'm going to stop the massacre this time. You'll not have to kill them. Why did Naoko have to save them? Save him? Couldn't he save himself?

Many things will change. He had told Naoko that once. It was time for him to acknowledge his own words. It was time to change. Naoko was fighting to change the future, all he had been doing was sitting back and waiting for Danzo to tell him it was time to kill his clan. Sure, he was making a list of skills of the Akatsuki members but while that might help Naoko out in the future it wasn't really changing the future for the better.

He was in the past and he was trying to act like his past self. He could change so many things. It was time for him to take up his part for preparing for the future. This time he didn't have to worry about his father's pride. Itachi didn't have to work twice as hard as anyone else to try and receive recognition any child desired and deserved. This time he could work as hard as he wanted in preparations for protecting his home and the people he cared about.

"Itachi." The ten year old looked up from the view, the sun was just breaking across the sky. Kakashi stared down at him, his face expressionless. Itachi rose and slowly entered, a part of him still feeling rage and fear at the change that was about to happened. He was separate from those feelings though. He felt like he was floating just outside his body and watching everything happen as if it was occurring to someone else. This had never happened. He didn't know what to expect. Everything he knew was falling apart.

The Hokage sat behind his desk, his dark eyes gleaming behind a pair of reading glasses. There were dark bags sunk underneath those old eyes, indicating a long sleepless night. Not all that shocking if the rumor of peace talks were true. That rumor had gotten all the way back to them so there had to be some ounce of truth behind them. Itachi looked away and found the ANBU commander silently standing by the window facing the Hokage monument.

"Itachi-kun." Itachi turned back to his kage. The elderly man met his eyes before continuing. "It has come to my attention that you are not mentally prepared for active ANBU duty." Silence fell across the room. Itachi shifted, uncertain on whether he should be responding to that statement or not. Finally Sarutobi Hiruzen continued, "Have you been having thoughts, dreams, desires to kill any of your kin?"

Itachi's mouth twitched as he found himself struggling with an answer. He was unable to look away from those dark eyes until, at last he whispered, "Hai." He couldn't explain, how could he explain that he was from a future where he had killed them but on the Hokage's orders?

Sorrow and piety filled those dark eyes. No words were spoken for sometime. What was left to say? That he was dismissed from ANBU services before he had even begun? That he was considered a traitor because of his thoughts of destroying a major clan of the village? That he was unfit to be a shinobi until he pursued proper help?

It was only at the soft knock at the door and muffled call of the secretary that broke the silence. Sarutobi spoke up quietly, "I have decided to place you within the village's protection detail. You will be ANBU but you are on strict inner village duty."

Itachi frowned, "But that is the duty of the Police Force."

The Hokage nodded, "It is but if you ask your father you will be told that there is one squad of ANBU that are give the duty to observe from afar. They do not move around in their ANBU attire but their causal clothing. Their duty is literally to watch the foreign shinobi, merchants, and traveling civilians from outside Hi no Kuni for any aggressive action. This allows the Police Force to focus more fully on inner village conflict."

The Hokage leaned forward and rested his chin on the back of his hands, the elbows pressed onto the desk. "This ANBU squad does not go on missions. They do not leave the village until they are assigned another team or end their ANBU career. There is one exception, major conflicts may lead to the need for their presences on the field, but that will be the only time you might see major action. Now many on the team have day duties that are given to them to correspond with this. Your taicho, for instance, is perpetually found on gate duty." The Third paused for a second, a smirk spread across his face, "it is a running joke amongst everyone that I'm out to get him by killing him with boredom, actually."

Itachi stared at the Hokage, his eye's wide. "How am I supposed to make people believe I'm a ANBU without leaving the village or being seen in ANBU clothing?"

The old man frowned in annoyance for a second. "Usually that isn't a problem as half the village isn't made aware who is a ANBU and who isn't. Your clan gossips too much." The Hokage smiled grimly after a moment of thought, "Your team takes a rotation of duty usually, though with the conflict with Cloud they haven't gotten a chance to do so in recent months. I had to send them all out to the field, in fact. So you will be waiting until they are back to begin your ANBU duties." The room fell silent as the elderly man seemed to get lost in thought. Itachi lowered his eyes to the floor. This, was not what he had been expecting.

The third shook his head sharply, as if to shake off a thought, "Anyway, the rotation is to allow two members at a time train for two weeks in the ANBU training fields. We can't have any ANBU get complacent, especially the team given the duty to actively protect Konoha."

Itachi slowly nodded and the Hokage continued, "You will also be moved from the Uchiha compound within two weeks. Some details need to be hashed out but you will be rooming with an orphan that has been causing some...issues. It will be more complicated than that though."

The ten year old licked his dry lips, Naoko immediately popped into his mind, "Sir?"

"You may not be aware but orphans who enter the academy become charges of the Hokage and not simply the village." Said Sarutobi, " They are future shinobi and need more attention than the other orphans, especially when they start showing restlessness in the orphanages. If they are left there the other children, who are unable to properly protect themselves, get hurt whether from a fight or by accident. To avoid this, these orphans are given their own apartments within the complex near the academy after about a year of tutelage. This year, because of the preparations for the the Cloud conflict, we have a number of academy students who are both younger than normal and farther along in their training than even a year of the usual academy schedule would have allowed them to be. They need to be moved into their own apartments as soon as possible but many are simply too young to be left on their own. One in particular isn't even four yet."

The elderly man sighed heavily as he leaned back against his chair. "You will be rooming with that specific orphan but will also be checking on the others, making sure none of them are dieing. I will be assigning another to help with that as you're rather young to be making sure all these children are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Most of them should be able to take care of themselves in about a year, after they are pushed into a routine. In the end you'll just have to keep them from accidentally killing themselves."

The third smiled reassuringly at Itachi, "It will not be too difficult. Usually, as you know, the academy accepts 6 year olds and older. There are ten five year olds, two four year olds, and the three year old who must be moved from the orphanage. Those will be the ones you'll be taking care of after the other children are properly settled in. Of course, you'll be checking in on all of them but nothing major should be needed."

Itachi finally interrupted, "How am I to explain this to my father? It's not something that will go unnoticed."

"The three year old is considered a genius. As far as your parents need to know I gave you this duty because of my concerns for you being in the ANBU and my desire for a fellow genius to cultivate what appears to be there." Smirked the Hokage, "I'm sure your father won't be able to decline a chance to have a orphaned genius grow up favoring the Uchiha clan and in his supposed easy access. Your mother will simply be pleased to see that you aren't being slowly killed from overexertion."

Itachi slowly nodded. "So I am a ANBU, just not one that see active duty often?" Sarutobi nodded before pulling a scroll out and rising from his seat. Opening the scroll and pressing one hand over a storage seal, the third regard Itachi, "Welcome to the ANBU," A soft puff of smoke expelled from the seal revealing a ANBU uniform and an animal mask, "Usagi."

Itachi carefully took the bundle and stared down at the rabbit mask. He had gotten a weasel mask last time. Last time he had been on Kakashi's team, though. The Hokage spoke up one last time as he waved the other ANBU out of his office, "We will be discussing your thoughts on killing your kin, Itachi. I do not believe such a topic would be good to have with anyone else. They may get the wrong idea."

The Uchiha heir looked up and slowly nodded at his Hokage. At least he didn't have to worry about a Yamanaka running around in his head.

AUAU

The book slammed to the ground with a loud thud, breaking Naoko from her doze violently. A succession of sneezes helped force her further awake. She started to rub her nose across her sleeve before wincing. Her raw, red nose had chapped, slightly opened skin from too much rubbing and sneezing. She was miserable and she looked it. The little girl stared down at the book on butterflies silently telling it to come to her so she didn't have to move.

She had read a couple pages. Two, maybe one. Alright, so maybe she hadn't gotten past the third paragraph. It was boring and she didn't like books anyway. She had gone through the entire book, though. Every other page had a pretty picture or drawing of different butterflies so she had look at each one. There wasn't a picture of her butterflies.

Naoko looked up as the door slid open and Akiko, the caretaker, step through with a evil, vile bottle. The kind caretaker gave a soft giggle at the rather adorable sight of Naoko glaring half heartedly at the medicine bottle. "Now, now Naoko-chan this will help you get better. You know that very well."

The three year old stuck her tongue out and grossed, "But it's icky Akiko-san!" Naoko had no trouble acting her age now. That bottle should be destroyed. She would pay for a hit on that thing. She was sure she'd have someone willing to take out the medicine bottle and its manufacturer for 10,000 ryu. Maybe she could ask the Hokage if she could access the Senju fortune just once before she grew up. The clan had a fortune, didn't it? The kanji for sucker flashed through her mind and a shiver of fear went through her. Somehow Naoko was not too sure after that image, though she didn't know why. Maybe, maybe she should look into the Namikaze clan's finances instead. Naoko sudden frowned and it wasn't fully because of the spoon that had somehow found its way into her mouth. Was there a Namikaze clan? Or was the Yondaime just from a small family?

"Neh, Naoko-chan I'm going to bring you some tea and miso soup in a little bit." Akiko wander towards the door before pausing and looking back over her shoulder at Naoko. Her face was hardened in a re-prime, "Don't you go trying to train, I will know and next time I find you out of bed I will tie you down, got that?"

Naoko twitched at the reminder, "Hai, hai. I remember your threat from earlier Akiko-san!"

Akiko's was suddenly beaming at her, "Good, good." Naoko stared at the closed door. Women were scary. Was she really going to grow up to be one. Blue eyes stared down at her little body before the clouded feeling from her cold, and possibly a fever, faded with the medicine taking affect. Her mind went in such odd directions right now. Her being a woman? Well of course. She firmly yanked the horrified thoughts of her gender change to the back of her mind. Naoko would probably never fully get used to being a girl until all her memories of being Naruto were gone. Then she would only remember that dream and most that was her being told to suck it up and act like a girl. The little girl suddenly giggled softly at her summarization of Tou-chan's passionate speech.

Once her mind fully cleared and her nose stopped running, Naoko looked back at the butterfly book on the floor. She could go get that, or she could work on sensing chakra. It wasn't like Akiko had any idea about this type of training. With that Naoko shifted around into a better position and slowly faded into a mediated state. Between reading and actively training, Naoko saw no competition. The book could wait.

After some minutes the little girl felt her pool of chakra flowing through her body, focused at the middle of her abdomen. She mentally sat there enjoying the soft current of her chakra before turning away and feeling outward. Naoko found the overwhelming, silent chakra almost instantaneously. She stared out at it and hesitated. She couldn't feel any end to the chakra.

Yet, with Buta's insistence that it was just everyones chakra combined, the blue eyed child mentally stepped into the chakra. She braced herself for the sudden change, a sudden overwhelming of her senses, for anything. Yet nothing changed. It still just felt like there was chakra everywhere with no end. The little girl frowned as she sensed around, looking with her mind and not her eyes. For a second she felt some different chakra. It was familiar but then it was gone before she could figure it out.

Naoko wrinkled her nose in thought, making a cute expression for anyone watching her mediating body. After a moment of hard thought, the little girl shrugged and chose to dive in. Dig deep, as Buta said. Throwing all caution to the wind, Naoko reached out and grabbed onto the chakra.

Wind and bird song.

She was ants trekking through the grass. She had just pounced on a mouse. Water was rushing across her but she was the water. Yet she was the river bed. The wind was moving her. She was dancing and singing with soft clicks and crinkles as she rubbed against herself. Leaves. She was the aspen and the pine. She was the wind. A muffled crash filtered across her senses. She was the broken bowl, the spilt soup.

Someone was calling her but there were so many people calling to her. One man was whispering to mummy's tummy, telling her that she should come soon. A boy was calling for her to come home, he had some nice milk for her. A little girl was deciding which one of her to pick from the rose tree. So many. She...where-

naoko

She was the fish.

Naoko

She was the clouds. The air.

NAOKO!

Blue eyes snapped open. A hundred blue eyes. Butterflies. She was butterflies. Naoko stared down at her hands. They were there, weren't they? All she could see were butterflies. Everywhere.

Get a hold of yourself. Pull yourself together! Pull your chakra back to yourself! Do Something!

Naoko reached out but not with hands because they weren't there. Why weren't they there? Forcing the terrifying question away, the little girl reached out and grabbed at anything that was her. That felt like it was herself. Then she pulled.

"Naoko?" She knew that voice. She had never heard it with such emotion before. Naoko blinked slowly. She could see her hands. She had fingers.

"Naoko, look at me." Naoko obeyed, her mind still muffled like she was thousand of miles away. Itachi was sitting on her bed. Naoko slowly looked to the ground where she knew, somehow that Akiko-san was laying unconscious covered in her soup and tea. She was on the ground to. The bowl. The soup. The little girl started trembling. How had she known that? What happened?

She had touched that chakra. An image of two old toads in a garden of toad statues filled her mind.

"Naoko." The toads were saying something but she couldn't make it out. "Naoko focus. Look at me. Focus on me."

Naoko jerked back to Itachi. Itachi had been shouting at her. He had been the one telling her to pull herself back together. He had meant it literally. She had been everywhere. She was everything. Everyone.

"Naoko!" The three year old stared at Itachi. His voice was so far away. "Talk to me. What happened?" He was scared. Whatever could have made him scared? "Naoko, do what I said. Now."

Slowly, painfully slowly her mouth opened and closed but no words came out. What was she to say? What happened? What- "I was the sky." Naoko felt her body tremor as the memories filled her. "I was everywhere and no where. I just touch the chakra because pig told me it was alright, it was just everyones but then I was ants and trees and unborn babies and daddies and mommies and flowers and clouds. I was clouds. Then there was shouting everywhere, people talking to me: You and the daddy and the girl and the boy and the birds and the bees. There were butterflies everywhere..." Naoko stared at Itachi's eyes throughout her ramble, though she long stopped seeing the ten year old.

She never noticed the hands gripping her arms hard enough to bruise. She didn't feel the slight shacks as Itachi tried to get her attention again. Naoko didn't notice anything until Itachi pulled her into his lap and just held her. That was when she realized she was crying and she had been screaming and her throat was raw.

She was so tired.

But she couldn't sleep because she might lose herself. She might not find her way back. Itachi slowly rocked her as she cried and stared at nothing, yet at everything.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: To Act

Lifting the half awake and throughly unresponsive three year old, Itachi slowly rose from the bed. He needed to get Naoko to someone that could help her and know to keep it quiet. Dark gray eyes moved over to the unconscious caretaker. He also needed that person to be able to keep that woman quiet.

The ten year old shook his head as he moved to lift the unconscious form up to only remember sharply just how short and young he was. If he could carry both Naoko and the caretaker on his shoulders he would be able to get all three of them out but - Itachi pulled Naoko away from him only to find his shirt being pulled with her as her fisted hands tightened - as it was he couldn't.

Itachi frowned before shifting the little girl so that he could form a familiar cross hand-seal. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Whispered Itachi before settling back onto the bed. He needed to get the Hokage. He was the only person who could help or get help and keep it quiet. No one who shouldn't know would. No matter what Danzo believed.

It felt like ages before the memories of his bunshin came to Itachi. He had been forced to act like nothing was amiss and wait his turn to see the Hokage. Then he had to convince the kage, through subtly lying about wanting to kill a certain blood related clan, to get the others out of the room. After the explanation of what he really needed, the Hokage informed him to wait and keep the caretaker unconscious. He would be there as soon as possible.

Itachi took a deep breath and exhaled. Naoko needed help from someone that might actually have an idea of what had happened. All Itachi knew was that Naoko was-she had been... Itachi tightened his hold on the little girl. He had watched Naoko's body fade into butterflies.

"Itachi?"

Sharingan red eyes flashed up to find three shinobi standing a few feet away, the caretaker laying between them. Itachi's hands trembled as he stared at the three older men, not caring at that moment that he hadn't noticed them coming. Itachi was just relieved to see Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The other two shinobi were also good to see. Yamanaka Inoichi would easily be able to not only take care of the caretaker but also assess Naoko's mental state. Itachi was certain she was in some high level of shock. Aburame Shibi was good for the butterfly problem.

"Itachi, respond." Ordered the Hokage quietly as Inoichi slowly stepped forward to move Akiko-san from the floor.

"Hai... hai Hokage-sama." Itachi stared for a second longer before realizing with a start that he should perhaps do something, like move Naoko onto the bed. By the time Itachi came to that conclusion the Hokage was carefully pulling her off.

"Report, Inoichi-kun and Shibi-kun need to know whats going on and I need more details beyond Naoko turning into butterflies and is mostly unresponsive."

Itachi slowly nodded as he tried to help get Naoko to let go of his shirt. "Hai, approximately..." Dark gray eyes flickered over the walls until finding a clock, "Thirty minutes ago," It had felt far longer than that. "I came to assess my new roommate. I found her on her bed in all appearance mediating. I chose to observe instead of interrupt her mediation. A few moments later she just... her physical form started to.. I-I don- I don't know, fall apart? Dissolve?"

Itachi looked up at his leader. "Her skin changed, I guess... at first it was like butterflies were crawling up from inside her, they looked like moving tattoos, but then they reached the top of the skin and the butterflies started pulling themselves up through her skin but it didn't rip the skin or anything."

The ten year old moved his sight to the other two shinobi. Like the Hokage's, their faces were carefully blank. "After the caretaker came in and fainted I started calling to her. It took a few minutes but than she opened her eyes and that's when her body fully dissolved. She was gone and all that was left were hundreds of butterflies in the room. Her clothing was on the bed but that was all. " Itachi turned back to Naoko who was now curled into a ball, hugging her pillow. "I-I told her to pull herself back together. I didn't know what else to do but after a few minutes the butterflies all came back to the bed and reformed, solidified into Naoko. I grabbed the pile of pjs and pulled them back on her while trying to get her to talk to me. When she finally started talking it quickly escalated to rambling."

Dark gray eyes looked imploringly at the audience, "Her rambling doesn't make any sense to me. Naoko said that she was everywhere yet no where. She was multiple things at once. I believe she said she was ants and the sky and clouds. There had apparently been more than me shouting at her to get her attention... I- I didn't know what to do so, once she calmed down, I made a bunshin and sent it to you Hokage-sama."

Silence stretched out as the older shinobi digested Itachi's words. The third and Inoichi were both trying to understand what Orochimaru could have done to her. Shibi was contemplating exactly what this could mean for his clan and, to some extent, the village. Itachi was split between hoping someone knew something and wondering whether he should bring up already knowing her or not.

Sarutobi had to make sure of one thing before pursuing this possible kekkei genkai. "Itachi are you certain?" Dark gray eyes met black and the old man seemed to hesitate for a moment, "You have been under a great deal of stress recently."

Itachi frowned, his apparent difficulties with his family and the ANBU could lead to mental issues in some cases but he wasn't insane. Even so Itachi couldn't really blame the Hokage for coming to that conclusion. The only way any of them could possibly, fully believe him is if they saw it themselves...or perhaps saw just a part of her become butterflies. The memory of the first time he had seen the butterflies came to mind. "Perhaps... Hokage-sama if Naoko's entire body dissolves into butterflies..." Itachi pulled out a kunai and carefully pulled a small chunk of silky white strands into his hand, "Then maybe her hair will dissolve into butterflies when cut?"

The third regarded the ten year old thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, "It is worth a try."

With a flick of the blade, loose silvery white strands gleamed in Itachi's hand. The Uchiha carefully cupped his hand around the loose strands of hair and the others stepped closer for a better view. Itachi forced himself not to react to the small kikaichÅ« bugs that landed on his fingertips. The quiet ticking of the clock grew louder as time seemed to run slower.

It felt like forever by the time something occurred and the strands seemed to fad away into two little butterflies. They were mostly blue, the same color of Naoko's eyes. The back wings had little orange circles like eyes. Both butterflies fluttered off back towards Naoko. Shibi reached out and carefully caught one while the other landed on her arm and crawled back under her skin and into her.

More tiny little bugs crawled out of the Aburame's sleeve. A few zoomed over to Naoko and a few crawled over to the lone butterfly in the tall man's hand. The Hokage settled onto the bed and carefully slid his hands through slivery white strands. "Inoichi, make sure the caretaker doesn't remember this and have her inclined to not investigate this area for a time."

Shibi quietly interrupted."Hokage-sama, it would be best to move her from the orphanage immediately. This possible bloodline limit is an unknown and so could be a danger to civilians."

The old man nodded in agreement. "Hmmm... Have her believe Naoko has been taken to her apartment early. She will be going with you Shibi-kun, of course."

"That would be best."

Itachi looked between his superiors as Inoichi carried the still unconscious woman away. "Hokage-sama, what will happen now?"

The third didn't answer immediately as he began rubbing circles onto Naoko's back. Finally he spoke up, concern gleamed in his black eyes, "Itachi after you help setup the other orphans into their new apartments next week, come to my office. If Naoko has not been deemed ready to leave the Aburame's care you will return the following week and so forth. You're otherwise dismissed at this time." The third Hokage looked up into Itachi's eyes, "What has happened here is an S-rank secret."

The young man frowned and hesitated for a moment. Itachi wanted, no needed, to know what was going to happen to Naoko. They were going to help her and he should see her next week but still... this was Naoko and she was his responsibility in a way not even the Hokage could understand.

After a moment Itachi bowed, dark gray eyes settled onto her unresponsive form. He couldn't help her. The ten year old had no clue what or why what happened happened, but the Hokage could figure it out. That didn't make it any easier for Itachi to turn and leave. Naoko and he were in this together, and it felt like he was deserting her when she needed him the most.

"One more thing Itachi, one of your new teammates is back on duty and will be contacting you for some basic training involving your new position."

Itachi nodded sharply before fleeing. Naoko would be alright. She would be.

AUAU

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly sank into the single chair in the room with a pop of his back. Soon after Itachi had left, Inoichi had returned and they had moved little Naoko to the Aburame compound. Shibi was silently laying the child onto the bed. The old man could just make out glazed blue eyes.

If the situation wasn't so concerning the elderly man was sure Naoko taking the orphanage pillow on this trip would have been at least slightly amusing and not, in fact, as concerning as it was now. She was awake but absolute unresponsive since she had claimed the pillow as her replacement for Itachi's shirt.

"What have you determined about the butterflies?" Asked the Hokage as Shibi and Inoichi got comfortable.

Shibi pushed his glasses up as he responded, "What I have determined is that the butterflies have the appearance and presence of normal butterflies. Further investigation such as a dissection would be needed to continue to form an appropriate opinion of them. Before such actions can be taken, their relation to Naoko-san must be determined as once they enter into the girl their presence vanish."

Sarutobi sighed heavily, "And to determine that relation we need Naoko to work with us and, more importantly, be responsive. Inoichi its time to see what you can in that head of hers."

The blond man nodded sharply before shifting his position to give himself a better angle towards the three year old, "Pull me out of the technique after two minutes. She is too young for me to safely enter her mind for any longer. Because of the time limit, and the fact that she is three, I will not be able to access her memories...Not properly at least."

"Just pull her back to us." Order the Hokage.

Inoichi nodded before flicking his hand through a blur of handseals and with a soft whisper, the Yamanaka's head fell forward.

AUAU

White smoke and turquoise grass danced in non-existent wind. Inoichi looked around but couldn't make out anything. The smoke - or was it fog? - lazily moved in circles around him, clinging to his clothing. The stark smell of something burnt yet the heaviness of rain filled the Yamanaka's senses. He couldn't hear anything. It was eerie.

In the few civilian minds he had entered, it was always filled with conflicting sounds as memories tried to push themselves onto him. The shinobi minds he had entered in this manner had differed but there had still been some sound, even if it had only been whispers. To hear nothing was strange. Shaking his head, Inoichi slowly looked around. He didn't have time to wonder about this. After a moment or so, the blond man chose a direction had headed off.

It seemed like ages had past in the silence and smoke when the sudden introduction of pounding caught the man off guard until a single glowing butterfly flapped past him, back the way he had come. It was so silent a flying butterfly sounded like the beats of a drum. As the glowing butterfly flew out of sight, its glow breached the smoke and made a pathway. Wind gushed over him, pushing Inoichi after it.

Following it slowly revealed other butterflies all flying in the same general direction. They fluttered, flicked, dived, and danced in the smoke. Soon the smoke looked like some child had stuck his fingers into icing and doodled with no real concept of what he wanted to make before hand.

To make it even stranger, at random moments pipping would jut out from the fog or even the turquoise grass. Inoichi found himself walking over a number of pipes that just peaked out of the earth. The contrast of nature and industrial piping was off putting. One of the things just didn't belong. Was the grass growing over the pipes or were the pipes pushing up from the ground? It was surreal being in such a place.

A whimper brushed past in the wind as another butterfly carried it by. Pupilless blue eyes moved from the thick smoke and found a tall tree heavy with deep blue leaves slowly rising from the whiteness. One of the butterflies fluttered down onto the branch and lost its glow. It looked like the leaves. The leaves weren't leaves. They were butterflies. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of butterflies.

The whimper came to him again, pulling him from the butterfly ladened tree. Walking around the tree revealed only an ornate go board that someone had left in the middle of a game. Frowning Inoichi crouched before the board. He reached out and press his hand onto solid wood. The Yamanaka had half expected it to burst into smoke. Instead if felt as solid as any well made go board he had seen. A slight whistling sound was the only warning before wind crashed into him from all sides. The whimper became part of a sentence. Inoichi could hear deep chuckles, a man's voice.

I would have to say Sukiyaki.

Inoichi couldn't tell where it could have originated but it was part of a memory. The memory was connected to the board even if it had come from the wind.

He couldn't stop the slight sigh of relief once the wind calmed but not because it had stopped slamming into him. The relief was for something much more important than the state of his hair. This was a normal way for memories to solidify in people's minds. Something distinctive about a memory would be left as the physical representation of said memory. The wind and smoke were odd but every mind was different in someway. Inoichi was just glad he had found the go board because it meant Naoko's mind wasn't too different from the others he had entered in this manner before.

Inoichi rose and looked around. Turning in a circle the man searched in vain as his sight couldn't reach more than a few feet in front of him. As relieving as it was to find the evidence of memories, he was here to find Naoko and not try and find what memories were still close enough on the surface that he'd be able to touch them. Young children had short attention spans for a reason, and when they did remember something it was a single thing from a larger memory that they fixated on. The rest of the memory would be too far from the surface to be able to find safely.

Unless the memory was traumatizing. Then it would stick around for a time. Inoichi glanced up at the butterfly laden tree. Dissolving into a large number of butterflies would be rather traumatizing. The blond turned back to his search. He really didn't need to find out what dissolving into butterflies felt like and that was most likely what that memory would be. Right now he needed to find Naoko, but where could she be? Inoichi jerked back against the tree as the wind crashed into him again from nearly all sides. A wordless plea came with it. What was going on?

"Naoko?" Called Inoichi. "Naoko I'm here to help you!"

The wind died instantly. It was eerily silent again. Then drums resounded outward and a butterfly fluttered down past him. Broken words breathed in the wind that came in its wake. "I...was the sky...I am...am always.."

Inoichi stared for a second before cringing. The whimper was coming from all around him because she was all around him. Technically people could do this when he entered their minds but he had never witnessed it. This was the physical manifestation of their mind but a mind is still the person. It wasn't ever separate. He had only read of this. No one seemed to have the mental capacity to accept the fact that they were omnipotent within their own minds and so they recreated their physical bodies as a sort of avatar in their mindscape. It made things easier for everyone.

The three year old was everywhere but no where, just as she had told the Uchiha boy. How was he supposed to get her back together? The Uchiha had gotten her to physically come back by shouting at her but he didn't have the time. Inoichi had only a few more moments before he had to leave. Time acted differently within the mind but he had to be reaching the end of his limit. How could he help her?

A butterfly fluttered up past his sight. Her physical form had dissolved into butterflies. Inoichi snapped his hand up and caught the butterfly somewhat less neatly than Shibi had earlier. He stared down at it for a second, half expecting to live through Naoko's memory of being a hundred butterflies. After a few seconds, Inoichi slowly moved the little glowing butterfly up to his lips. He whispered softly to it.

"Time to come back together Naoko-chan. You're not the sky. You are a little white haired, blue eyed girl. You are Senju Namikaze Naoko. There isn't any room for you to be the sky and the ants or the birds. You most definitely cannot be the clouds. Clouds have to be themselves just like you." Inoichi silently shook his head. Thanks Kami Shikaku nor ChÅ za would ever hear about this.

Inoichi let go of the butterfly after that thought and watched as it fluttered up to the tree. Unlike the butterflies before it, it didn't land. Instead the butterfly fluttered all around the landed butterflies and then swooped down back towards Inoichi. The landed butterflies took flight after it.

The Yamanaka stayed perfectly still as he suddenly found himself surround by a flock, or perhaps it was a swarm, of butterflies. It wasn't like he knew. Now, ask him about a flower and he'd have the answer.

Shaking his head at the stray thoughts, Inoichi focused back to what was happening before him. Just in time too, as before his eyes the butterflies seemed to come together into a human like shape and fade into cream and white and finally two dots of blue. Naoko looked up at him with wide blue eyes.

No wonder the Uchiha had been so odd. That was one of the strangest things...

AUAU

"There you are." Itachi looked up to find a simple, older man standing before him. The man raised a brow at Itachi, "Aren't you a bit young to be making notes from that?"

Itachi stared a second longer before looking down at the Icha Icha Paradise book and the pen he had been using to mark in it. Then he looked at the tiny role of paper he had been writing numbers on. This did look rather compromising. The Uchiha slowly looked back up at the older man, his expression kept carefully blank.

The man shook his head, "Man, is there any way to get you Uchiha to react?"

"Hn."

An amused, small smile spread across his face, "Well Usa-chan, I think its time for some explaining for your new position."

Itachi frowned at him. His ANBU mask was of a rabbit not a bunny. Choosing to continue to ignore the rude remarks, dark gray eyes slid over his new comrade. Itachi really looked at him now that he knew this was one of his teammates.

Dark brown hair, dark but strangely warm black eyes. He was taller than Itachi but than Itachi was ten. He was clearly in his thirties and wore a green, short kimono over a blue shirt and standard issue black pants and sandals. In the end there was nothing especially special nor odd about him. He would blend in amongst the crowd with ease. As he basically admitted to being an ANBU, his appearance spoke of some skill in espionage. "Who are you?"

"I'm Maboroshi Kisuke. You'd call me Kisuke as I am now but with a mask I'm Mausu." Kisuke pulled out a scroll before settling carefully down besides Itachi on the lone bench in the training field. "Our main purpose is to investigate strange events and strange people. We watch from the shadows and are never seen. Yet people see us everyday as we walk amongst them. Of course each of us have our own roles to play as you'll find out when you meet the rest of our team."

Kisuke unrolled the scroll revealing the classic script of a seal. "Most of the time you'll be walking around looking like Uchiha Itachi just like I'm running around as Kisuke..." Kisuke looked up at the sky. "Sometimes we wear our full uniforms, like when we get guard duty at the Hokage tower but as we are usually moving around in our normal clothing we carry a small selection of our ANBU uniform on us to quickly pull on. " At this Kisuke tapped his hand onto one of the large circles drawn in ink. "In here I have my mask and my trench coat."

Black eyes moved to meet Itachi's, "And you may have noticed that I'm wearing multiple layers of clothing. Most people don't realize it but the base pant mesh we ANBU wear looks just like a regular pair of pants when not fully warped around the ankle. Even our standard shoes just come across as regular shinobi attire when you wear a normal shirt or your chÅ«nin vest with it. Only people who'll guess at the implications are ex-ANBU and some JÅ nin. Everyone else won't think twice at you wearing black pants and shoes instead of the standard navy."

Itachi frowned as he looked down. "I see." The ten year old looked up, "So with the trench coat, mask, and lower part of the uniform you can pass as a fully armored ANBU for minor issues."

Kisuke nodded, "You want to also carry the rest of your uniform to pull on when needed but for basic issues, like when the police either signal for us to make an appearance or the issue is outside their jurisdiction, we are able to look fully prepared while still having the ability to move through the open without anyone realizing."

"Our team consists of four shinobi. So usually there is three of us patroling and one off training or on the rare mission when their specific expertise is required." Kisuke rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

It was a few minutes later when the mouse ANBU spoke up again, "Usually Taicho would be giving you this introduction so I might be skipping things... Oh, Captain can basically always be found at the front gate. Its his near permanent day job and its perfect. One of us has to be there to get a good look at all the people coming and going... All of us have day jobs so to speak. I'm considered a runner since I go collect shinobi the Hokage needs for specific missions. The others have their own jobs," Kisuke's mouth slowly stretched into faint smirk, "even you, I hear."

Itachi hmm thoughtfully, ignoring the jab. So what if he was babysitting a bunch of kids. Orders were orders. "As I understand it, we're the only two presently in the village."

Kisuke stood up and, as he put away his scroll, nodded, "We are officially the only two present in the village but," The man turned and regarded Itachi, "Buta is still in the village, you took over his positions since he's been promoted. So he'll be moving through the village when not training with his new team, and every single ex-ANBU is unofficially made part of our team when they retire. They don't go on patrols through the village but they are always watching the strangers around for us. If you find yourself in a situation where one of them is helping you out, you're the one in charge. Well for most of the ex-ANBU, a couple of them are always going to be your senior."

"Like Uncle Kagami." Muttered Itachi as he thought of his great uncle's possible position as the past ANBU commander.

Itachi's comrade slowly nodded, "Yes, like Kagami-sama. Taicho will go over all the particulars of how you tell someone was a ANBU and whatever else I've forgotten. Right now we get to split up patroling the village." A smirk crossed his face, "As I'm the senior officer I'll take the first shift. You'll take over at 0100. Expect to be woken by water balloons if I find you asleep."

Uchiha Itachi frowned after his departing comrade in arms. None of that had been all that surprising, which was a little relieving. The ten year-old looked down at his clothing before putting away the orange book, roll of paper, and pen. First thing first was getting into a more appropriate uniform. Itachi smirked as he headed home. He was already wearing black so he somehow doubted that many JÅ nin would even notice the change in attire for him.

Itachi reached his home as he moved preoccupied through the village. Between Naoko and his new position in the ANBU, there was a number of unknowns and "what ifs" running through his mind. Itachi had had his life planned out all the way to having Sasuke kill him. Not knowing what was happening or going to happen was a somewhat new experience. He hadn't know everything of course but really how hard was it to guess that the Akatsuki members would be hunting down the tailed beasts in a moderately specific order of least number of tails to most number of tails?

Itachi smiled slightly. The thrill of the unknown was exciting. He hadn't experienced the feeling to the depth he was now in a long time. Even if being stuck in the village and babysitting a bunch a little kids for the foreseeable future wasn't exactly fitting for the Uchiha heir, it was something new. As Itachi pulled off his sandals he couldn't help but think about how he couldn't regret it simply because of that reason alone. Itachi had be going on assassination mission at this point last time. It was... nice not to be doing those.

"Itachi?" Dark gray eyes turned and met his mother's less than pleased ones. "Why has the Hokage sent a team of genin to pack your room up?"

Itachi couldn't stop the unintelligent reply from escaping, "Uhhh..." Maybe Itachi did regret becoming a babysitter and being trapped in the village. The Hokage could have given him some warning.

Uchiha Mikoto folded her arms in front of her and stepping out behind her was Uchiha Fugaku. Itachi was most definitely regretting this.

"Well... You see I have a long term mission." Itachi shifted at the deepened scowl on his mother's face. "I... The Hokage has given me orders to take care of and watch over a group of orphans that are too young to be left alone in their new apartments. I have to move into the same apartment complex and this is a mission I'm doing along side ANBU."

After a moment of silence, the two adults spoke at once.

Mikoto gave a blunt "No." while Fugaku asked a question, "Why you and how is this going to affect your missions?"

Itachi glanced at his mother before turning and standing at attention to his father. "I was chosen because of the youngest of the orphans is considered a potential genius. To cultivate her prowess I have been task to guide her since she does not have a clan to aid her. She will be sharing an apartment with myself until her graduation, though the Hokage may choose to have it continue for a time afterwards."

Itachi paused as he looked over at his mother, her scowl had deepened. "The Hokage also informed me that I will be taking less missions. He indicated that if I didn't take this mission he would not consider accepting me in the ANBU."

Turning back to his father, Itachi added after a pause, "It appears that the Hokage is somewhat concerned over my age but realizes my skill would be much appropriated within the ANBU. I believe this is his compromise between his passion for protecting younger shinobi and children from the difficulties he deems harsh for ones my age and younger, and his duty as Hokage."

Fugaku nodded in agreement before turning back to the kitchen, "Go speak with the genin team, they need guidance. We will be continuing this over tea."

The ten year old watched his parent move back into the other room. He could faintly hear a heated argument breakout as the door slid close. Itachi stared a moment longer before taking a steading breath and heading up to his room.

AUAU

A week and a half had passed by. Itachi slowly moved over the roof tops. He had moved into his new apartment â€" which had just the absolute basics at this point. His parents had reacted differently from what he had expected. His father had been agreeable enough. He had clearly seen the benefit of not only having a genius raised in Uchiha favor but also the other orphans. Uchiha Fugaku had also been interested, too interested in Itachi opinion, on Naoko's age. His father was planning something just what was eluding the ten year old. As it stood, Naoko had been invited to have dinner with his family as soon as she was well enough and Itachi had the time to take her.

Itachi's mother had, on the other hand, been furious. Apparently taking care of a bunch of children was not her idea of keeping her son safe, sane, and from overworking. She also made is very clear that Itachi was too young to be caring for himself let alone children younger than eight. But in the end she didn't have a say. Itachi was an adult by law. He had the right to move and live where he wanted. He even had the finances with his position as a chÅ«nin and a ANBU. Most importantly, it was a mission requested by the Hokage and Itachi had accepted it.

Dark eyes wandered over the empty streets, it was about two in the morning and there was nothing to do but think. Mausu and he were still the only ANBU of their team presently in Konoha. He was still taking the red-eye shift which was something he didn't mind so much. Itachi preferred the quiet. Though, absolutely nothing had happened so far and Itachi wondered vaguely if there was ever any action as he leaned against a water tank and stared up at the black sky.

There was no moon tonight. Itachi slowly searched the stars and found each constellation he could see at this time of the year. Naoko was still with the Aburame. The Hokage had not bothered giving any details to Itachi and, honestly, Itachi hadn't really expected any. Part of him had been certain Naoko would be ready to move to the apartment. She had always bounced back. But this time it wasn't some fight she had lost or training she had had difficulties with. Naoko had turned into a bunch of butterflies and that had to do something to your head.

Though, the Sandaime had also admitted to there being some issue with the timing. Itachi could believe that, after all the Kumo ambassadors had shown up two days after The Incident (as Itachi had started calling it). The Hokage and, to a lessor extent, Yamanaka-san and Aburame-san were going to be rather busy through the peace talks.

Itachi pushed back off the water tank and moved to start his patrol again when some movement on some lower rooftop caught his eye. Someone was there and they were a shinobi, civilians didn't travel on rooftops nor in the middle of the night. Whoever they were, they were in Itachi's sensory range. He should be able to sense their chakra, yet Itachi couldn't. Why would a comrade have his chakra hidden?

Pulling his mask up Itachi moved swiftly after the person, keeping parallel to the figure and on the higher roof tops. His eyes bled red. It was a man and he was carrying a rather heavy sack. More importantly the man was wearing a flat jack in the style of the Kumo-nin ambassadors. Itachi's eyes widened as he remembered his father saying something about this so long ago.

This was the Hyuuga Affair. The ten year old stilled. He couldn't change this. To change this could change so much. Too much.

I. Will. Not. Fail. Konoha.

Itachi snapped forward as Naoko's glaring blue eyes seared through his thoughts. He would not fail Konoha either. It was time to act, not sit back and wait. Itachi narrowed his eyes and sped faster. The Kumo-nin was focused fully on keeping his chakra hidden and getting out of Konoha. He hadn't noticed an enraged Hiashi last time, he was not going to notice him.

The ten year old's eyes spun faster before he jumped in front of the fleeing nin. Black eyes widened. The kumo-nin jerked backwards, away from Itachi even as his eyes met sharingan red. Itachi snapped forward, hands flicked through blurred seals.

"Magen: Narakumi no jutsu." Hissed Itachi.

The kumo-nin flinched and horror rushed across his face. The rucksack fell. Itachi side stepped the kumo-nin, caught the sack, and twisted around. His hand snapped forward, hitting the back of the kumo-nins neck. The shinobi fell, his hands dropping the half formed handseal that would have freed him from the genjutsu.

Itachi snapped his head back the way the kumo-nin had come from. Hyuuga Hiashi was in front of him within seconds of Itachi sensing the man's chakra. Byakugan and sharingan met. Itachi silent lowered the sack and moved to the downed but alive shinobi. He was not going to get between that man and his child.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Bowl of Ramen

"They've demanded their shinobi returned to them." Silence stretched across the room. Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the outrage flash for but a moment across the Hyuuga head's usually unreadable face, the frowning contemplation fill Nara Shikaku's eyes, and the other various reactions throughout the room. No one spoke around the half circular council table. The Hokage leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on entwined fingers.

The peace treaty had been a farce in the shinobis' minds. Even though there was an actual treaty now, only the civilians and DaimyÅ could possibly believe that Kumogakure and, by extension, Kaminari no Kuni had come to make peace. The Kumo-nin Itachi-kun had taken down had admitted as much, after a few days with Inoichi of course. They had come planning to take Hinata from the start. She would have been forced to breed, for a lack of a better word, until she was no longer capable of bearing children. But that wasn't going to happen. Itachi-kun had saved her.

Hiruzen glanced over to his right, where one of two seats permanently assigned to a clan head resided. Uchiha Fugaku sat coolly regarding him. On the Hokage's left sat the empty Senju seat. Usually the Hyuuga head would be seated besides the empty seat but today he sat besides Aburame Shibi, who had nearly always sat beside the Uchiha head. Sarutobi couldn't help but wonder that, if the Aburame head hadn't been his usual early self, would Hiashi have sat right besides Fugaku?

Politics, the elder heaved a sigh. It always boiled down to politics. "Kumo has threatened to take action if we refuse to send their representatives back to them. Apparently they will be properly disciplined for their unauthorized and illegal actions." Sarutobi couldn't keep the sarcasm from his voice at the end. "As it stands, we do have the treaty we just signed with Kumo and because of the wording within the document, we cannot, not send the kumo-nin back without breaking the treaty."

Hiashi's eyes flashed with fury and the man virtually hissed out, "They are the ones at fault. We have their own shinobi admitting to their true orders!"

"Agreed. Kumo should be reminded why we are the greatest of the five." Danzo stated sharply as he stared intently, earnestly at Sarutobi with his one good eye, "We must make an example of the Kumo-nin."

"And how do you expect us to do that, Danzo?" Interrupted Hiruzen before Danzo began a impassioned speech as he was wont to do in cases like this.

Danzo's lips curved into a slight smile, "Public execution."

"Not a good idea, that." Muttered the Nara head, as he sat up straight.

Inuzuka Tsume barked out, flashing her teeth challengingly in the Nara's general direction, "Why's that?! It sounds like a good beating. Kumo won't forget this."

"Troublesome woman." Muttered Nara Shikaku even as Aburame Shibi spoke up.

"Why is it not a good idea? It is not because of many reasons." The heavily clothed shinobi paused and glanced over at the Nara head. The two seemed to stare at eachother for a moment before Shikaku groaned and slumped back into his seat.

The lazy genius explained, "Kumo has had time to recover from the war. We are still recovering because of the Kyuubi attack. They have two fully grown jinchÅ«riki while we have none. Then there is the treaty. We agreed that, if a shinobi of one side is killed by shinobi of the other side within the next year, the village of that shinobi may demand retribution." The Nara closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, "We all should just be glad the ANBU didn't kill the Kumo-nin. I won't put it past Kumo to demand compensation of a Hyuuga's body, though we'd be able to argue back that they should only receive the ANBU's."

Uchiha Fugaku stiffened at that, "So we cannot make examples of any of these shinobi. Executing them and then having to execute the ANBU would not be productive on our side." Danzo tried to interrupt but Fugaku continued, "But that does not mean we cannot emphasize on the failure of the Kumo-nin." the man looked over at Hiashi, "Perhaps they will find themselves unable to properly control their chakra from now on and of course Kumo cannot push this under the rug. We can use the failure of its shinobi to pull clients to Konoha. We can make Kumo regret this."

The Hokage sat back and watched the debate bounce between two main sides. To execute or not was apparently the question. Danzo was correct in the fact that they could not show weakness. All the other villages were still watching to see if the Kyuubi attack had affected them in a way detrimental to their skills. Did losing the Yellow Flash and many other shinobi weaken Konohagakure enough that there was a better chance at defeating the village this time around?

But in turn, they could not handle the price of war, true war and not the small skirmishes that had consist of this one so far. Konoha could not afford to antagonize Kumo. That was why they had been trying to find peaceful ends from the beginning. In the end they had to avoid war. Konoha would have to work harder to keep their position as the most powerful of the main villages.

The third Hokage sat up straight, pausing the argument between Danzo and Inoichi. "Your thoughts on this matter were greatly appreciated." The council members settled back into their seats, all eyes stared intently at him. What was the decision he had reached?

"The best route for Konohagakure is to return the shinobi. They will be escorted to the border of course." A flash of frustration flickered across Danzo's face even as Hiashi moved to protest, "It would be best that a Hyuuga representative was part of the escort. Would you do the honor Hiashi-san?" The Hyuuga paused for a moment before giving a curt nod of agreement. Hiashi has gotten the silent offer the Hokage was offering. He had a chance to have his revenge by doing what Fugaku had advised. "Excellent, this meeting is adjourned."

As the shinobi, and the two civilian representatives, moved from the room the Hokage called out, "Ah one moment Shibi-kun, Inoichi-kun. I have a few things to discuss with you both."

"Of course Hokage-sama."

AUAU

The pitier platter of water and the whisper of wind in the trees soothed the little girl sitting with her toes dipping in and out of the small pond. Glazed blue eyes followed the dance of two dragonflies. She wasn't fully there. Her mind kept going back to what had happened. She had been everything, everywhere. She had been nothing and nowhere. She was part of a whole but so small a part that she couldn't help but feel empty. So what was the point? There was just so much in the world. She was nothing. She would come and go. Nothing she did would change that.

Her eyes slid down to the ripples in the water. They moved outward, fading before reaching even halfway across the pond. The ripples she made during her life would affect the world as much as these ripples. Nothing would change, would be affected.

The soft brush of cloth against her arm caught her attention. Blue eyes slowly turned and regarded Shino but the boy wasn't looking at her but at her toes. It didn't matter, Shino wasn't any more important than herself. He would leave the world and nothing important, nothing long lasting, would have stayed.  
Inconsequential.

Blue eyes lowered back to the pond and Naoko dipped her big toes back into the water. The ripple faded quickly once again.

Useless.

Her toes tapped the water again.

Pointles-

A second ripple moved into and partly combined with her own. It was bigger, faster even. It made a greater effect. Naoko moved her eyes back to her feet in contemplation. From the corner of her eye she could just spy another pair. The new set of feet tapped the water with multiple toes, making sharp ripples in the water. Senju Namikaze Naoko smiled.

AUAU

The Hokage and Yamanaka head watched the two young children. Inoichi leaned against the wall as an Aburame brought refreshments out on the porch. Children shouldn't be so still or silent. That was Inoichi's opinion. Of course he was basing this off his daughter and her friends. Maybe he should base the opinion on Shikaku's kid? Inoichi shook his head at that. Nah, if any of their kids were odd, it would be Shikaku's.

Shibi quietly stepped out onto the porch. A few other Aburame followed. "She has not been very responsive." Spoke one of the elderly Aburame in the group.

The third Hokage said, "Oh?" as he turned away from the children.

The elder nodded before explaining. "Shino-kun does not know why Naoko-san is presently staying with us but he has come forwards with some concerns involving her lack of action."  
Inoichi frowned, more than slightly confused. "How would he know how she should be acting?"

Shibi answered, "Why would my son know? It is because he has played with her a number of times now."

The blond blurted out, before he could help himself, "They're friends?"

"They have played." Corrected Shibi. "and I have witnessed it. She should be more...exuberant."

The Third nodded in understanding. "Have you had time to work with her on the butterflies?"

"No we have not." Shibi paused before carefully choosing his words, "We have been waiting for her to come forward on the matter. Though," The clan head nodded slightly over to the youngest Aburame present, "Muta has read a book on butterflies to her."

"Hai, that is the only time she has spoken." The young Aburame said, "Naoko-san has asked questions on some of the subject matter."

"The only time?" Breathed Inoichi.

"Hai."

The group fell silent. This was complicated. What could they do when they didn't really know what had happened? She needed to speak with them but she was three. What could they expect from a three year old?

"We have learned something." Sarutobi and Inoichi turned back to the Aburame elder. "The butterfly Shibi-kun brought is still present. We have kept it within one of the atria. It has not eaten but it is still alive. It has been a week and six days since it was placed within the atrium. It appears to be a normal butterfly besides the lack of feeding."

Shibi quietly added, "There does not seem to be any negative effects from the separation but, as the child is not back to her normal self, that is debatable."

The third Hokage nodded slowly, "I would like to see the butterfly."

"Hai."

Inoichi interrupted, "I think I'll go speak with her. She might talk with me."

Aburame Muta lifted one of the plates of honey flavored senbei. "Please try to have her eat some of this." Inoichi took the plate with a nod before watching Muta direct Shino inside for some unscheduled training.

The Yamanaka clan head moved across the garden and knelt down besides the silent child. Blue eyes looked up and met his pupil-less ones but no words of greeting followed. The little girl simply turned back to the water. "Naoko," Inoichi paused. How to go about this? "have you enjoyed staying with the Aburame?"

The little girl responded, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that she ignored him, with tapping her toes into the water.

AUAU

The third Hokage regarded the little butterfly sitting on a lily pad, the long tube that apparently qualified as a mouth was tapping the water. "Are you certain it's not drinking?"

"Is it drinking? No, it would be done by now if it was." Responded the quiet Aburame Head. "Hokage-sama, may I propose something?"

Sarutobi turned and regarded the Aburame, "Of course. Do you think we should proceed with a dissection? It might be for the best."

Shibi stood silent for a moment, "I-Hai Hokage-sama. A dissection would be the next step but that is not my proposal." Seeing that he had his leader's full attention, the man continued. "Is it possible to adopt Tano Naoko? Her abilities are related closely enough to our own that we may be the best caretakers and teachers for her. She should not be left alone."

The elder sighed heavily, "I'm afraid that adoption is out of the question for her." The Third raised his hand to stall Shibi's words. "She does possess an unknown ability, that may or may not be a new bloodline, and this ability does appear to use bugs, making you and your clan one of the best to care and train her. But this matter is not simple. Her heritage makes her politically too important to allow any one clan a greater claim on her person than the rest of the clans."

"May I know how she is so politically important?"

Folding his arms behind his back, the elderly man looked back down at the little butterfly. "I would think it obvious at this point, Shibi-kun. Tano is not her last name and she is related to one of my students."

Shibi stood perfectly still for a few more minutes, digesting his lord's words. "I see. Shall we see what hime-sama's butterfly is like?"

With that, a net was used to catch the little butterfly and the two shinobi joined the rest of the Aburame waiting for them. Besides Muta and Shibi, only the elders of the Aburame clan knew exactly why Naoko was residing with the main family. So it was not surprising that, with Muta off training Shino, only the clan head and the elder council were present for the dissection of the odd little butterfly.

Shibi carefully spread out the butterfly's limbs, as the bug was now drugged up too much to do anything but lay there. Taking out a tiny, thin knife the bug user slid it into the exoskeleton to only find the blade suddenly sliding through nothing. They all started at the glow of chakra, dissolving into the air. Though the butterfly had felt and acted like a normal butterfly(besides not eating), it had apparently never been. It had only been a chakra construct.

AUAU

The soft gasp that escaped the little girl brought Inoichi's attention back to her. "Are you alright Naoko-chan?"

Blue eyes were round with wonder as she looked up at him and finally the little girl whispered out in awe, "He wants to adopt me."

Inoichi was more than slightly confused. "What?"

The little girl shook her head and turned back to the pond with a smile. The Yamanaka sighed at that. At least she had said something. That was a plus, even if it made little sense. She wasn't fully gone like she had been before Inoichi had gone searching for her in her mind. She seemed aware but there was an odd separation between her and the rest of the world. It was like she was disconnected.

"Ah Naoko-chan, mind if I steal Inoichi-kun for a minute?" Called out the Hokage, almost twenty minutes later, as he returned to the porch with the small group of Aburame. Naoko gave no reaction, so Inoichi moved back to the porch. The Third didn't wait long to continue the discussion. "We tried to dissect the butterfly a few minutes ago. Did she give any reaction like she was being cut or anything?"

Inoichi shook his head. "No, the only thing she's done was a good ten, twenty minutes before hand."

"Oh?"

Inoichi nodded slightly, "Hai, she gasped randomly and then stated in some disbelief that, and I quote, 'He wants to adopt me'."

The Third's eyes widened and Shibi straightened in faint shock. "Are you certain that is what she said? Twenty minutes ago?" Demanded the Hokage.

"Hai. Its the only thing she said while I was with her." The blond frowned, eyes moving between the Aburame Head and the Hokage, "Why?"

Shibi spoke quietly, "Why? Because it was about twenty minutes ago that I requested the right to adopt Naoko-san. The only person present, within hearing distance, was Hokage-sama."

The Third added, just a quietly, "And a certain, odd butterfly."

"I-I see." Breathed Inoichi. "So she might be able to-"

"Hai, it appears that way. Let us test this theory." Interrupted the Third.

"Wait, what happened in the dissection? Did you learn anything?" Ask Inoichi as the Third and Shibi moved swiftly across the garden to the little girl. One of the elders quickly explained what had happened to Inoichi. More and more questions were appearing with each answer they got.

"Naoko-chan." Blue eyes looked up at the Third but she didn't respond. "Do you understand why I cannot have you adopted?" The Third continued speaking after a slight nod from the three year old. "I would like to try something with you. If you work with us, without complaint, then I will take you to Ichiraku's and you will move in with Itachi-kun. Sound good?" Another nod was his answer, "Good, good. You will have to speak during this experiment but first I need a couple of butterflies of yours. Do you know how to bring out the butterflies without us cutting your hair?" A shake of her head led to the old man pulling out a kunai and kneeling down besides her.

Pausing, Sarutobi turned to the Aburame. "Each of you will take a butterfly and leave the vicinity. You will then state something to the butterfly and return. Do not destroy the butterfly nor set it free until after we confirm that Naoko knows what you said." Looking back to Naoko. "As soon as you know what they said repeat it word for word, to the best of your ability."

At the nod from both the Aburame and Naoko, the Third Hokage slid the kunai through a large amount of hair. The Aburame elders and Shibi each caught a butterfly and vanished, leaving only a scattering of leaves. Naoko slid her fingers through her hair. It was lopsided and was now much shorter in the back than the front.

"We can get that shaped up proper later, if you like." Naoko stared up at the tall blond, eyes flickering to the hair he had. It was clear that he couldn't decide whether to have short or long hair. After a moment, the little girl shook her head violently in denial. He was not going to get anywhere near her hair! The Hokage laughed heartily at her response even as Inoichi scowled.

"Oh!" Gasped Naoko, interrupting Sarutobi's godding at Inoichi. The men gave her their full attention as she spoke, voice slightly rough with disuse. "The guard changes at 0200." Naoko continued stating random sentences until she came to the last two. Her eyes were narrowed and mouth pressed thin from concentration as she started naming off a list of weapons the Aburame was apparently buying in the black market. After the first six items, Naoko struggled to name off anymore. To top that off, she simply shook her head when Inoichi inquired on the last.

Once the Aburame returned, it was confirmed that the sentences Naoko had succeeded in repeating were correct. The two she hadn't been successful with had been considerably longer than the others. The potential was left unsaid. Even if Naoko ended up lacking skills in all other areas, the chakra butterflies and the connection she had to them was a fountain of information gathering potential. But it was also a threat.

Sarutobi's and Inoichi's eyes met with grim worry. Before she had been an odd child that held a promise with the results of her blood matching the recorded genetic material of the fourth and second Hokages. She had been a replacement for Naruto, for Sarutobi's adopted grandson, who had been the old man's hope for the future. Indeed, the ANBU who watched her had only described an unusually focused, active three year old but what if there was more?

She seemed to be the result of Orochimaru's experiments, and even if she wasn't, she had to have been created or altered by someone. As such experimentation was illegal, that someone could not be an ally â€" or at least a trusted one.

The Third offered his hand to the child. She was already being watched, to some extent, by trusted ANBU. And Itachi was loyal to a fault, the boy would inform him of any strange happenstance. He had already done so with bringing the chakra butterflies to his attention, after all.

If she was a spy they would know it. If she suddenly started acting differently, the only real indication of a sleeper agent, it would be noticed. When she finally joined the shinobi ranks her sensei may have to be informed of her potential position â€" sleeper agents can wake at any point in their lives after all.

The Third offered his hand to the child. "Ichiraku's, Naoko-chan?"

Naoko nodded quietly as she took his hand. "Can Shino and Itachi come?"

The Third smiled, "Of course." Nodding to the Aburame elders as they bowed goodbye, the third looked over to Inoichi, "I will speak with you later."

"Hai."

Shino and Shibi rejoined the two at the gate of the Aburame compound. The four quietly traveled through the village with the Hokage traveling besides Shibi and Naoko staying near Shino. It gave the impression that the Hokage was joining the Aburame clan head and heir for a meal, and the little girl was a tag along friend of said heir.

It was beneficial that a number of civilians and shinobi had either seen Shino and Naoko together before or have heard of the unlike friendship. Aburame rarely gained friends or even acquaintances and when they did, they weren't female (it was a common belief that Aburame had either a process of asexual reproduction or used their bugs to help create their children). So, of course, it had become a widespread rumor and no one thought for even a second that Naoko was actually there with the Hokage. If they had, her true identity would have been revealed sooner than anyone in the know wanted.

Itachi was already at Ichiraku's when the group got there, giving the appearance of a happy accidental meeting. Naoko silently settled into a seat between Itachi and Shino. She only spoke when asked for her order. This time her silence wasn't only because of her dis-attachment to the world. It was because of the feeling of welcome, and love, and comradeship, and so much more that overwhelmed her as the aroma of ramen swallowed her whole.

It felt like home.

Blue eyes rose at the click of the bowl settling in front of her. The spilled soup on the floor. The bowl her caretaker had dropped. She was the bowl, the soup as she had been before, as she would always be. Blue eyes gleamed with wonder as she stared down into the bowl of ramen and into her reflection and the reflection within the eyes of her reflection and beyond. This was her and this was everything and nothing and everyone and no one.

"Naoko?" Itachi muttered in concern as he moved away from his own bowl of ramen. It was a truly frightening thing seeing an untouched bowl in front of her. "Are you alright?" Had the Hokage's message been too early? Should Naoko come live with him yet? How could she when she couldn't even eat ramen?

Blue eyes looked up at him filled with a strange emotion and a surprising amount of unshed tears. Ramen had always been a central part of her life. It had connected her to so many people; their faces flashed across her mind too fast to focus on any single one. But that didn't matter, what mattered was what it reminded her of.

Family.

She had created a family consisting of friends and comrades that would be by her side always. She wasn't alone, she had known that even before she had connected to and become everything. Yet the overwhelming sense of the world had made her forget. Becoming one with everything made it both feel like there was only her -she was the world and the animal and plants in the world - and that there was just too much in the world - she could get lost in it and never find herself again. It made her terrified of the task she had set for herself. She couldn't save the world, not when the world was so big, too big.

Unknowingly, Shino had taught her (or perhaps reminded her) that while one person couldn't save the world, a group could. He had done so by simply tapping the water in time with her own tapping toes.

Now, with the dancing flavors of ramen and memories of half forgotten comrades surrounding her, she allowed herself to remember breaking apart into hundreds of butterflies. She understood now. Naoko understood the simple, terribly complex truth.

"I am Ramen."

"What?" Itachi asked even as Shino turned to stare at Naoko.

A soft, brilliant smile spread slowly across the little girl's face, and life seemed to return to her. Naoko spoke loudly as her eyes moved to stare into the bowl, "I Am Ramen."  
Naoko was alright. She knew she was because she now understood, at least in part, what she had experienced. It wasn't so frightening anymore. After all, she was ramen, just like everyone and everything and no one and nothing â€" and ramen couldn't be anything but delicious.

AUAU

Naoko slowly entered the academy room. She had been gone for nearly a month. Blue eyes wandered over the class; a number of the students were gone. She had missed the Genin Test. She was stuck in school till the next test a year from now.

"You're back."

Naoko looked behind her and brightened. "Yorimi-chan."

The brown haired Uchiha stared flatly at her for a moment. "You haven't been at the orphanage."  
"Wha-"

"I checked."

Naoko blinked after the retreating, stiff form. The implications of Yorimi's words struck her a moment later and Naoko rushed after the older girl, "You came to check on me?!"  
Yorimi flashed a frosted look Naoko's way before settling down in the last seat of one of the rows, leaving Naoko to find a seat farther up and away from her. Naoko frowned at her friend. She hadn't meant to leave Yorimi in the dark. Well, not fully at least. Naoko slumped into a seat. She missed graduation and Yorimi was mad at her now.

Her eyes fell to the floor in a fit of depression but it didn't last very long as the little girl found herself hopelessly distracted, something that had been happening too often since the incident. Her shoes made her toes look big. Maybe the shoes were too small. What would it be like being those tiny shoes? She could squish so many bugs but Shino would be mad. What about the grass? The grass would be squashed just as much as the bugs... They were stepping on her, uncaring as they destroyed her â€" bruising her. Blue eyes glazed over as memories of everything, of grass and leaves and nothing began to sweep over her to only be pushed back by the load swoosh of the door sliding sharply open.

"Good morning class." Called Funeno-sensei as he entered with a familiar curly headed woman. "As you know, with the conflict with Kumo concluded, your schedules are going to spread out to include other areas of the academy. These areas are going to be covered in the new and improved Genin Test next year."

Naoko frowned at her sensei. This was not cool. She was ready to graduate now. Sure, she was still working on the bunshin but the other two techniques were nearly perfect. These classes had better not be pointless but Naoko had little hope on that front. If they weren't pointless they would have not been ignored for the war time schedule.

"Girls, meet your new sensei, Suzume-san will be teaching you valuable skills for being a kunoichi. Please follow her to you're new class. You will rejoin us for the afternoons."  
Naoko's mind stuttered to a halt even as she followed the other girls out of the room. No, this was not happening. She was not going to learn stupid things like flower arranging and tea ceremonies. With that thought, Naoko slipped out of one of the windows they passed on the way to the new class.

It would be a few months after the fact that Naoko finally admits to not knowing where the class is. Until then, this began a couple month long stint avoiding school and sadly, accidentally Yorimi. Of course Naoko was being productive during her absence, and she did show up for the afternoons â€" most days.

The academy teachers were told a very abbreviated version of what happened. The important part was that Naoko was a little absent minded right now and they were working on it with her but it was best to not call on her or worry too much if she doesn't show up. She was only three, almost four. They will be able to help her refocus by the time she was actually, physically and mentally ready for the shinobi life.

Nobody brought up the fact that their help for Naoko was rather lacking. What could they do but play mental games with her? And those games only got so far before she was distracted. There was only so many times one can play Go with a person who gets distracted by grass for thirty minutes randomly in the middle of her turn.  
Then there was the butterfly training. No one wanted Naoko to try whatever she had done to dissolve into hundreds of butterflies but she needed to learn how to call upon them or learn how to dissolve her hair into them or something, whatever it was that created the butterflies. Which was the problem. What did she need to learn? And whatever it was, how were they supposed to teach her how to do it?

The only answer anyone had was simple. Cut her hair and have Naoko try to focus on what it felt like when her hair became butterflies. There were two issues with this process, though. The first was obvious, there was only so much hair you could cut off a little girl's head before people start wondering what's going on. They couldn't shave her hair off. People would really start wondering. The second issue was Naoko didn't seem to feel anything remotely related to the butterflies during the process. Sure, she could repeat sentences told near those butterflies but she didn't know how it happened. It just did.

They were going about this wrong but what else could they do?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Of Toads and Uchiha

The door slid shut and Sarutobi stiffened at the activation of the room's top privacy fÅ«injutsu. He had not turned it on. Indeed, dark eyes narrowed at the back of his chair, they could only be activated at his desk. The old man watched, body relaxed but prepared, as the chair turned.

"When were you going to tell me?"

Hiruzen sighed, relieved for a second before realizing why his student must be here. "Up, up." He ordered, waving his hands in emphasis as he moved forward to claim his seat. He was going to be comfortable for this conversation. The white haired man scowled but obediently moved. He was a tall man with long, spiky white hair tied in a ponytail and further held back from his face by a large, spiked forehead protector. The kanji for oil was painted on it. Two red lines traveled from the bottom of his eyes to the edge of his chin in a mockery of tears.

"Do I need to ask again?" Grumbled the man as he moved around the desk.

Hiruzen leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands before his face. Sarutobi contemplated his visitor, there was so much to say and yet at the same time his student would want it up front. Finally he spoke, there was no point in trying to avoid the topic. "Naruto is dead, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya's hands fisted his sleeves as he folded his arms. "How?"

"You know how, why else would you be here?"

The man glared. "I want to hear it from you. I want to hear how you could not protect my godson. I want to hear why you didn't try harder to keep Minato's son safe!"

The elderly man lowered his hands and began to frown. "Jiraiya y-"

"Don't." Jiraiya stood tall. "You're the Hokage! Don't say it's because of Minato's enemies â€" you have your own goddamn set of enemies to deal with and you had sons! Everyone knew them, they knew about them before they were even born!" Jiraiya leaned forward, "Tell. Me. What. Happened."

"This conversation is old. You know my reasons" The white haired man simply glared at the Hokage. Sarutobi sighed. "He was the jinchÅ«riki. I couldn't tell the world on top of that information. He already had too many interested parties as is. It was best that nothing more was known about him. It was to protect him from those enemies that would act if they knew our jinchÅ«riki was his son."

A snort of disgust escaped Jiraiya. "You didn't think there was a god damn good reason why Mito-sama and Kushina were both kept secret? What made you think that it was safer for Naruto to be known as a jinchÅ«riki than Minato's son?! Look what you're decision led to."

"Jiraiya!" The Third glared at the man.

Jiraiya snapped back, "I knew. I told you that it would lead to this! You killed him."

The elder of the two slammed his hands down onto the table and rose to his feet. "Don't you talk to me like that! What exactly could I say to the population that watched Minato and Kushina fight the Kyuubi with a babe in their arms? It wasn't like I could keep the shinobi from telling their family that they had been able to see the demon chakra get pulled into the baby. You weren't there. You don't know how we couldn't evacuate the majority of the village before the attack. All we could do was try and keep the damage to a minimum." The Third's shoulders slumped. "We lost so many that day. People were angry, are angry."

"They seem pretty bent out of shape knowing who Naruto really was." Argued Jiraiya before taking a deep breath. He had gotten everything out now. He needed to focus and push his feelings on the matter away. Jiraiya looked over at his teacher.

The Hokage had lost friends, family, subordinates. He had lost his wife. The chaos of the entire situation had truly made it impossible to keep the truth secret. Too many had seen what had happened and there was too much Sarutobi had to deal with during the time. There hadn't been any real way for his teacher to keep it secret but still... It didn't matter now. What mattered was that someone had killed his godson. "Sensei, tell me what happened."

Hiruzen slumped into his chair. "He was attacked. I and my ANBU got there too late. The alleyway was covered in dead bodies and blood. There was only one survivor."

"That's it. That's all you got to tell me?"

Dark eyes looked up and met Jiraiya's own black ones. "The ANBU charged with protecting Naruto was among the dead. His body was partly over Naruto's. He died protecting the boy." The Hokage paused for a moment before adding, "There was a sharp spike of chakra which had led us to the alleyway but besides that there is no information. A dead ANBU cannot hand in a report anymore than a dead genin."

Jiraiya nodded in grudged understanding before prompting, "Chakra?", as he sank defeated into one of two chairs on his side of the desk.

"The Kyuubi's."

"You think it was the Kyuubi that killed all the people?"

"Hai."

Silences stretch between the two men. Both lost in deep thoughts: Jiraiya coming to terms with rumors being true and Hiruzen wallowing in past mistakes and losses.

"You should have let me take him when I came." Muttered Jiraiya after a while.

The Third shook his head. "You know why I didn't. You have been doing everything possible to protect him from all outside threats. He would have only gotten in the way of his own protection."

Eyes met again but this time the words were left unsaid. Yet Hiruzen didn't need to hear them spoken out loud to know what his student was thinking. He was supposed to protect Naruto from the inside threats.

He had. Kami, he had thought he had been protecting Naruto but clearly the true threat had not been Danzo. Besides the dead ANBU, all the others in the alleyway had been civilians. Who would have thought that he had to protect Naruto from civilians?

Jiraiya's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What of the survivor?"

"What of her?"

The man stared at his sensei. "Sensei, just answer the question. She was there."

Sarutobi shook his head as he spoke, "Why don't you just tell me what you know about her."

Jiraiya leaned forward, eyes narrowed, "The daughter of the Nidaime and Minato. Seriously, you believe that? You don't question it at all?"

"Of course I do but she is only three and the blood test is convincing," the Hokage said.

"She is an impossibility in so many ways. Yet you just let her into the village without a second thought." Jiraiya frowned at his teacher. "She could be here by Orochimaru's design."

"I'm aware of the possibility. She is being watched, there really is little concern on the matter Jiraiya. As I said, she's only three."

The younger man shook his head as he stood. "Yeah, right. I want to see her. Someone without the helpless need for redemption needs to look at her."

Hiruzen glared at him. "I am not blinded by Orochimaru."

"You were."

The Hokage sighed. His hand moved to message his brow. "Fine."

"I'll bring in the toads for their thoughts on her. Can't be too careful with this." Said Jiraiya as he pulled something from his pockets.

The elder looked up at that. That could be of some use for more than checking if she had any snake taint (or whatever it was they detected on Orochimaru's ilk). "There's one more thing."

Jiraiya held out a little orange book. "What?"

The book vanished and the old man spoke nonchalantly, "It involves something rather strange about her. The toads might be able to help with the matter, particularly Fukasaku."

Jiraiya frowned at his sensei. "Right and that's supposed to keep me from thinking she's Orochimaru's?" The tall man sighed at the look directed at him. "Fine, lets go see."

"She's with Uchiha Itachi right now." Stated the elderly man as he rose.

"Seriously? You placed her under the protection of a Uchiha even with Biwako-sama's last warning?!"

The Third stilled, keeping the fÅ«injutsu active. "Enough."

"You know wha-"

"I'm very well aware what Danzo says my wife's last words were." The Third straightened, the room had grown cold. "The fact of the matter is simple, Jiraiya. The person who attacked Minato and Kushina may have had the Sharingan but the Uchiha Clan were fighting alongside us the entire time."

"You don't believe him."

He sighed. "There is only so much you can believe from a man like him. I didn't think you trusted him anymore than myself." Sarutobi Hiruzen looked hard at his student, "Or do you believe him because this gives you someone to blame for Minato's death?"

Jiraiya didn't move as his sensei passed him after deactivating the seal work. His head dropped for a second before he hurried out of the room.

AUAU

Itachi awoke with a start. Sweat trickled down his face. Sharingan eyes moved sharply over to the blinking numbers on the bedside clock. 15:30 was too early for someone stuck on the night shift. Itachi dragged himself into the other room; tea sounded amazing. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Itachi firmly ignored the remnants of the nightmare. Its scheme was a familiar one. He didn't need to try to remember to know that it was about killing his family.

Itachi stared down at the kettle as it heated. The memories were fading but with how often he had thought about his past actions, the burst of horrid, truly unforgettable scenes when first moving through his clan's compound again, talking about it to Naoko and, to an even further extent, to the Hokage (though with claims that it all were terrible nightmares and fears) â€" Itachi would not forget as fully as he wished. He would be haunted by killing his entire clan for the rest of his life. The only thing he took solace in was the fact that he wouldn't have solid memories of doing it.

Breathing in the scent of good green tea, Itachi turned to take a seat at the new kotatsu to only stop and stare for a moment. It wasn't particularly cold out yet but it was time to setup the kotatsu futon in preparations for winter. That didn't mean he should expect to find Naoko dozing at one side, her head just peaking out of the shockingly orange futon. Shaking his head, and making a mental note to remind Naoko not to talk about this to his mother, Itachi settled onto another side of the table.

It was just when Itachi finally finished straightening up the pile of half finished academy homework and about to properly enjoy his tea that a knock came from the door. His hand twitched towards one of his hidden kunai. Who was bothering him at this kami forsaken hour?

The black haired boy nearly slammed the door open in his aggravation. He just wanted some tea. Was that too much to ask for? A pair of women stood on the other side of the door. He didn't know them. They appeared and even felt like civilians so they were no threat but that left the question as to why they were here.

The elderly woman smiled up at Itachi, she was that short, "Now sonny won't you let a little lady like me a place to sit? I hear you got some butterflies for my niece."

Itachi's eyes bleed red as he stiffened. Neither were overly beautiful or unusual but they both were different enough for anyone searching for intruders would not question them. Too beautiful and perfect or too plain and dull were two extremes shinobi found themselves doing when using henge. Few of the shinobi force were going out on espionage mission now. It had become a specialty which should never had happened.

The fact that these women were just the right amount of interesting to keep suspicions at bay meant they were dangerous. But even if they were dangerous, no one should know anything about the butterflies outside the Hokage, Inoichi, and a group of Aburame. And, Itachi quickly concluded, if someone else had gotten that information they wouldn't be at his front door. Naoko would have simply disappeared.

Itachi stared a second longer, his mind going blank trying to connect the two women to any of the group of men that knew about Naoko. Coming up with nothing specific, it was a little difficult thinking of any of the men taking on women appearances even with Inoichi's long hair, Itachi could only step aside to let them both in. Itachi closed the door as he kept his back from facing the two women. The young woman winked at Itachi as she pulled a scroll out from between her breasts.

"If you don't mind, Itachi-kun, I'll be taking some of your tea." Itachi jerked away from staring at the young woman. The old woman was gone and in her place stood the Hokage.

Itachi slowly relaxed, "Of course Hokage-sama."

"I'll have some tea too." Itachi felt himself ping pong as he looked back at the younger woman to find a tall white haired man in her place. Jiraiya of the Sennin, the Toad Sage, grinned down at Itachi.

"Naoko is sleeping right now," said Itachi as he moved around the kitchen preparing more tea.

"I can see that." responded the Hokage from his seat at the table, amusement coloring his voice. Right, he would have noticed Naoko by now. Somehow Naoko continued to sleep, though he supposed that Naruto had been a heavy sleeper when he was a genin so being a heavy sleeper at three shouldn't be that surprising. The Hokage spoke up after a moment of silence. "Jiraiya is here to look over Naoko. If you would be so good as to leave us, Itachi. You will have your home returned to you in a few hours."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and muttered "right" before unrolling the scroll. An intricate seal was written across it.

Itachi turned back to the Hokage and, handing over the tea, nodded in understanding before finding himself being pushed out the door by Jiraiya. Itachi stared at his closed door. He still couldn't feel either shinobi, though they were skilled enough to hide their presence when needed, it wasn't exactly something people did in their home. Yet, after a moment of concentration Itachi frowned. He could just make out the Hokage's chakra signature down in the market place a block or so away. A kage bunshin to keep Danzo and any other interested parties away no doubt.

Itachi rubbed the bridge of his nose with a grown. God, it was an ungodly hour and he hadn't gotten his tea yet. Itachi turn away from his door and moved to head out for some tea at a nice cafe when he stilled.

The eleven year old slowly looked down at himself. He was still in his pjs and had no shoes. Looking back up at the door Itachi heaved a sigh. There was no way he could get dressed now. Itachi sighed again.

He needed tea.

AUAU

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes down at the sleeping child even as the newly activated seal settled on the perimeter of the room. No one would be able to enter or leave till he deactivated it. No one would be able to feel any of their chakra signatures. Jiraiya frowned as he cut his thumb on his tooth. He wasn't going to deactivate it until he knew the truth. Not even sensei was going to be able to do anything about it.

A slap of his blood stained hand onto the floor brought a burst of smoke. A sneezing cough informed the two adults that the three year old had finally awoken. "Eh, Jiraiya, why'd you summon us?" Standing at the epicenter of the dispersing smoke were two child sized, elderly, talking toads.

The Hokage choose this moment to interrupt. "I asked him to call you both to give your expertise on a new, unusual ability that one of my citizens has revealed."

"Like hell I summoned them for that." Grumbled Jiraiya before pointing at the wide eyed three year old. "Is she one of Orochimaru's?"

The toads looked back and forth between the two old men before looking as one over at the little girl. Blue eyes met the toads' own. Jiraiya watched with narrowed eyes as the two toads moved closer to the little girl. what would they find?

Minutes past and no words of explanation came. Then Fukasaku, the male toad, hopped up onto the table in front of the little girl and slapped his webbed hand onto her forehead. The edge of a seal flared around the webbed hand, gleaming across the girl's head.

Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock as the little girl started to fall apart. She was still there but the edge, for the lack of a better description, was crumbling into blue butterflies. The female toad's tongue snaped out and caught one of the butterflies. Naoko screamed. The seal was pulled off her and the toads were sudden a good distance from the little girl.

"That's what I wanted an opinion on." Stated the Hokage before hesitantly asking the little girl, "Are you alright Naoko?"

Blue eyes refocused on the hokage and she stuttered a few seconds before saying, "S-She ate me!"

"Kid you're here. You haven't been eaten." Jiraiya said annoyed at the lack of explanation. That was what sensei wanted an opinion on! She turned into a bunch of butterflies! When was he planning on explaining this?

"Technically I did eat her." Said Shima.

Jiraiya jerked his head over to his summons, "Care to explain what the hell is going on? Shima, Fukasaku, Sensei, anyone?"

Shima nodded to Naoko, "I apologize, no one had forewarned us on your butterfly form. I had simply reacted."

"Yes, it's dinner time you see." Added Fukasaku as if that excused Shima's actions. Naoko simply continued to stare at them with wide eyes.

"Explanation." Grumbled Jiraiya.

"Oh, hold your horses Jiraiya." Scolded Fukasaku. "She a bakemono. It's only polite to apologize about eating her."

"Bakemono?" Asked the Hokage.

The two toads stared at the Hokage with expressions of exasperation. Jiraiya simply sat back and scowled at his summons.

Naoko finally spoke up, "I'm a shapeshifter?"

Shima turned back to the little girl and nodded, "I'm glad you understand. You're quite young to be experiencing this already. Most bakemono do not learn their trade until they are twice your age."

"It seems to be an uncontrolled, subconscious transformation." Added Fukasaku. "Most have difficulty controlling themselves when they transform from one thing to more than one. Do you experience headaches?"

"Wait." Jiraiya leaned forward. "You're telling me that she's all of the butterflies? As in what the butterflies experience she experiences?"

"Yes." Shima answered, "They are not separate things. The girl and the butterflies are one in the same."  
"So you did eat her," Confirmed the Hokage. "but no physical harm occurred."

The toads looked at each other and then back at the little girl. "Well..." Fukasaku said, "If enough butterflies are destroyed physical harm should occur. As it is, some of her hair is shorter than it was before the butterfly was eaten."

Jiraiya poured himself some more tea before speaking up, "Before we continue this, she a snake?"

Fukasaku shook his head, "She is not one of Orochimaru's."

"Alright then." Jiraiya paused for some tea. "What was with the seal?"

"She appears to be partly open to natural chakra. It flows through her with ease but does not react to or interact with her actual chakra. I simply placed a seal to force that interaction." Fukasaku frowned at Naoko. "You saw the result of a medium amount of her chakra and natural chakra mixing."

"It forces her transformation." Said the Hokage.

"No that is simply a byproduct of the affect natural chakra has on her." Countered Shima. "Her senses go haywire. She becomes part of nature, possibly a byproduct of her possessing a different multi-form."

Jiraiya frowned in thought, "My senses become extremely heightened, specifically in sensing chakra. It affects her senses differently though?"

"Yes, I believe so." Fukasaku sighed as he rubbed one of his facial warts, "We cannot say for certain as natural chakra affects people differently and as she is not a summoner we do not have the needed connection to be able to gain some solid conclusions but..."

Shima continued where Fukasaku left off, "Because she possess a mind capable of processing multiple places at once, experiencing multiple different things at once, and responding to said things - I believe she has a greater connection to natural chakra and her senses expand further then what should be possible."

Fukasaku nodded, "If she was able to gain control over her butterfly form she should be able to become a powerful sage." The toad stared hard at each human, stopping last and keeping his stare at Naoko, "Without a higher summons it will be dangerous to try and mold sage chakra. But understand, sage chakra is the perfect mixture of your chakra and natural chakra. You have the unusual ability to use natural chakra on its own... potentially at least."

Naoko slowly nodded before asking, "What should I do?"

"Learn to control your other form. Once you have mastered that you may begin to explore what natural chakra will do for you. Most people must pull natural chakra into them. It flows naturally threw you. All you need to figure out is how to interact with it without involving your own chakra."

"But how does she master her butterfly form?" Asked Sarutobi as he leaned forward intently. Naoko nodded slowly in agreement, a deep concentrated look crossed her face - one that made Jiraiya wonder if she was constipated.

"It comes naturally to most bakemono... once they're older but she should be able to gain some control if she focuses on what she's experiencing." said Fukasaku thoughtfully.

Sarutobi sighed before explaining, "We've been trying that. She can tell us what we tell her butterflies but nothing else, nor does she seem to understand how to make the butterflies."

Fukasaku shrugged, "I don't have much experience helping bakemono learn their trade, Hokage-sama."

After a moment of thoughtful silence, Shima spoke up, "Perhaps you need to take the butterflies to areas that vary largely from where her human self is at."

Jiraiya hummed, "Like taking it to a dark room when she's in a bright one or cold room when she's in a hot one?"

Shima nodded, "The differing, simultaneous experience should be obvious to her at some point."

"Interesting." Muttered the Hokage before he smiled warmly at the summoned toads, "Thank you."

The two elderly toads nodded, "Anytime Hokage-sama." With that the two toads unsummoned themselves, leaving behind only smoke.

AUAU

Itachi sat back and breathed in the scent of cooking senbei and steeping tea. He was back at the senbei shop in the Uchiha district. Dark eyes wandered lazily around the small shop, content to observe. Scattered around the shop's various tables were a set of nearly identical twins leaning over some scroll, quietly discussing its contents and the young brunette girl he had seen Naoko playing with some time ago, Yorimi, sitting on her knees concentrating hard on academic work. It was peaceful and no one at the Uchiha senbei shop would throw him out for his attire.

A plate full of fresh senbei was set down at Itachi's table. Dark eyes wander up to meet Uchiha Uruchi's smiling, wrinkled face. Her smile grew at his attention and she set a pot of tea besides the plate. A small cup immediately joined it as her eyes took Itachi in. It was but a second later when she laughed warmly at the eleven year old, "Itachi-kun what are you wearing?"

The black haired boy shrugged, "Pjs."

"Lazy day then, hmm?" Itachi simply leaned back into his chair and lazily reached out for one of the senbei. The old woman laughed heartily as she walked away. A soft swish of the door and ringing of the bells above it redirected the old lady towards the new customer. As she turned she shouting out, "Yorimi-chan tell your grandfather to cook some more wasabi flavored ones."

Itachi turned to his long awaited tea as the studying brunette hopped out of her chair and ran to the back of the cafe. Today should be a lazy day, Itachi decided as he sipped his tea. There was nothing to worry about right now. Everything coming could be dealt with later. Dark eyes slid shut and the eleven year old breathed in the faint woody aroma of his green tea.

The soft creak of one of the chairs at his table forced Itachi's eyes back open. Shisui sat on the other side of his table silently eating a senbei. The two stared at each other for a moment before Shisui simply leaned back like Itachi and silently accepted another cup from Uruchi. The rest of the afternoon floated by in peaceful quiet, each shinobi watching their clan members go about their business in the street outside.

At some point Itachi's eyes slid shut and he began to lightly doze. A nudge from Shisui woke him up in time to see his mother walking briskly towards the shop and him. The two boys shared a look of exasperation before Mikoto was at their table, scowling down at her pj wearing son.

"Itachi what are you thinking? Go put some proper clothing on this instance."

Itachi looked up at his mother and sighed. "I'll go get dressed in a few minut-"

"In a few minutes?! You will go change no-"

Itachi interrupted with a change of subject. "Kaa-san I was going to bring Naoko over for dinner later this week.. If that's alright with you?" Itachi noted the sudden attention from Yorimi. Before he had brought up Naoko she had been ignoring the argument like any proper Uchiha would.

Mikoto stared down at her son in confusion. "Who is this Naoko?" Eyes suddenly narrowed, "You're not seeing someone outside the cla-"

Itachi's eyes widened and he quickly interrupted again, "She's one of the orphans I'm taking care of outside of my other duties. She's the one I'm living with."

The matriarch slowly nodded, "Right, her. She also the little genius girl that everyone at the academy has been worrying about?"

"She's been having some issues focusing since a major cold but we've been getting her back on track. It's just been taking a while." Itachi said. At the frown growing on his mother's face, Itachi added, "She's around Sasuke's age."

Mikoto nodded thoughtfully, "Well tomorrow would be perfect. I'll make enough for you both to join us. Be over, and properly dressed, at 6."

Itachi quickly nodded in agreement and with that Mikoto left. The eleven year old ANBU met Shisui's amused stare with a helplessly relieved look of his own before rising. It was time to see if he had his apartment back.

AUAU

Naoko rushed to follow Itachi as close as she could while still taking in the Uchiha district. She couldn't remember ever being in the district before. The little girl had a strange feeling that, even if she had been here before, it had never looked so lively. There were Uchiha everywhere. No one was running across the roofs but there were plenty going about their business.

"Naoko be courteous, be polite." Itachi paused and stared down at Naoko. "Just.. Just say hello, answer the questions in as few words as need, and then don't talk at all."

The silvery white haired child scowled up at the older boy before nodding her head in understanding. She wasn't going to ruin this for Itachi... Was that a raccoon? Naoko slowed to a stop and stared down the alleyway, head tilted to try and get another look. Raccoons were interesting. Well she had never thought about them before but now that she had seen one, they were very interesting. What would it be like to be-

"Naoko come on." Itachi grabbed the three year old and carried her under his arm when she continued to stare off into space. He did not need Naoko to space out now. She could do that later. He needed her to focus and not screw things up. "We're here."

Blue eyes finally focused at those words. The building before them wasn't any larger than the others around but it was maintained more often. The Uchiha clan symbol gleamed in the setting sun as Itachi slid the door open.

She was going to meet Sasuke. The three year old stared at Itachi's back. She was going to meet the boy she had rushed off to find when she had run into Itachi. Nerves fluttered in her gut. She didn't know what to expect. Naoko felt a mess of emotions. Sasuke was the center of it and she wasn't sure if she liked what his name brought up.

Itachi led Naoko through, pointing out the restroom before pausing outside one of the many traditional paper doors in the house. He tapped Naoko on the forehead before sliding the door open. "Tou-san, Okaa-san." Greeted Itachi as he stepped in. "This is the orphan I've been charged with, Tano Naoko."

Naoko gave a respectful bow, "konbanwa Uchiha-san."

The grave looking man, Uchiha Fugaku, nodded in greeting before going back to a pile of papers in front of him. Itachi's mother smiled warmly at them both before remarking to Naoko, "My son, Sasuke, is in the back. He's around your age. Why don't you go find him." She paused for a moment, "Dinner will be a few more minutes."

Naoko nodded in understanding, and after seeing Itachi's nod, ran out back without a word. It took a moment to find the boy. Then the world imploded with memories all rushing together at once.

Searing pain in her chest. Words of hate vibrated through her mind. A small six year old boy lost without a family. Blood red eyes gleaming with malicious determination. A pale, yellow eyed man with a wide grin stood behind a older Sasuke. Snakes and hawks and promises for revenge on a brother and for a brother.

Combined, it all left Naoko ill. This wasn't a person she wanted to know. There was something terribly wrong with him. Blue eyes met black.

_I'm going to go befriend Sasuke so that this time he won't leave Konoha._

This wasn't the same, insane boy from her past's future. This was a innocent three year old. Nothing was for certain, Naoko straightened, she could push this Sasuke away from the terrible mistakes he had made.

Sasuke scowling face spoke otherwise. "You."

"What?"

The black haired boy simply, deliberately turned his back on Naoko and walked away with his toy kunai. Naoko was left standing by the door. What had she done?

Dinner began soon after. Naoko found herself silently sitting by Itachi, across from a glaring Sasuke. Mikoto continuously tried to discreetly stop Sasuke from glaring. Fugaku asked somewhat personal questions on her training and why everyone was worried. Itachi interrupted her whenever she started talking way over a three year olds ability or about something in more detail than Fugaku should know.

Sasuke finally bursted at the end, when Mikoto left to collect desert.

"Perhaps Naoko can come over after the academy to train with Sasuke." Remarked Fugaku, a calculating gleam in his eyes.

Sasuke ruined any plans by jumping up in outrage, "No! I hate her!" then he stormed out of the room.

Mikoto hesitantly set the bowl of fresh fruits down. "I should-"

"No Okaa-san," Sighed Itachi, "I should go speak with him." Fugaku nodded in agreement and Itachi moved quietly from the room.

Once the door slid shut the two Uchiha turned, almost as one, towards Naoko. Mikoto smiled kindly as she knelt down, "So Naoko-chan, fruit?"

AUAU

Itachi found his little brother pouting on the back porch. He stared at the slumped shoulders for a few minutes before silently sitting down besides the boy. Sasuke refused to look at his brother as he finally spoke up. "I hate her."

"Why?"

A deep scowl spread across Sasuke's face, "She took you away."

Itachi's eyes widened. "What?" Her breathed out. How could Naoko possibly have done that?

"You're never here." Frustration and loneliness glowed in tear filled eyes as Sasuke turned to Itachi. "She took you away."

"Sasuke..." Itachi stared helplessly at his brother. This Sasuke was the little boy that Itachi had done everything he could to save. This was the little, annoying brother determined to surpass him to get Tou-san's attention. This was the spare that no one paid any attention to.

Except he had once paid Sasuke all the attention he could while keeping him away from the politics and the horror of life. He had been Sasuke's world. Now he was never present.

"We can train tomorrow." Itachi finally said. Itachi's brother would not have the future he had had last time. Naoko and Itachi would do everything to stop it from happening.

Sasuke's face didn't brighten at the offer of training. He was staring dully back towards the house. "Tou-san likes her more too." The little boy's dark eyes stared up at Itachi. "She's a genius. She's in the academy already. Tou-san thinks she's better than me. He wants her to train me!" A tear filled glare fixed itself across the boy's face, "You all chose her over me."

"I didn't." Itachi said. "I am on a long term mission Sasuke. The Hokage asked me to live with her and watch over her."

Sasuke jumped up and, with clenched fists, bit out, "But Kaa-san says you could have declined! Tou-san says you're training her and she'll be Uchiha loyal! You chose her over me!" With that Sasuke ran off, leaving Itachi to stare after his back.

"He'll come around."

Itachi turned to the end of the porch and looked helplessly up at his great uncle. A pit of worry and fear had filled Itachi's gut. "I hope your right." Muttered Itachi, everything screamed otherwise.

Kagami nodded in understanding, his expression kind as he spoke, "It will be. Now go save your charge from Fugaku and meet me at Teyaki's shop. I want to met this genius child."

Naoko was found playing Go with Itachi's father. Surprisingly, Fugaku was openingly instructing her on some of the finer points while noting intelligent moves she had made. Itachi couldn't help but watch as the two played. The ANBU had never seen his father act so kind to anyone. Perhaps if Sasuke had been a girl, Fugaku would have paid more obvious attention to him. Or was this just another show of Naruto's skill, pulling the best out of the most difficult people?

In the end, if Sasuke heard or saw this there would be no hope in getting him to like Naoko. So Itachi finally interrupted the game and pulled Naoko out of the house. It took only a few minutes to reach the senbei shop. Kagami and Shisui were already there.

Naoko was distracted by a different Uchiha, though. The brown haired girl Itachi had seen Naoko playing with once months ago was frowning at Naoko. Itachi, Kagami, Shisui and Uruchi all watched as the two girls stared each other down. Then Naoko was babbling nonsense about apologies and that she hadn't been meaning to avoid Yorimi and how she didn't know where the girl classes were being held. Yorimi's glare broke and the little Uchiha interrupted Naoko with a hug and a hard smack to the head.

Kagami's soft chuckles at the sight brought Itachi's own smile to the forefront. Things would work out in the end. Naoko was on the mend. Sasuke would work through his anger. The Uchiha clan would survive. He would make sure that happened. Right now though, Itachi was going to have some well deserved tea.


End file.
